14–19 Jun 2026
Monterey, California (USA)
US/Pacific timezone
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Measurement of Elastic and Inelastic Neutron Scattering Cross Sections for 51V at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory

18 Jun 2026, 13:50
20m
Monterey, California (USA)

Monterey, California (USA)

Hilton Garden Inn Monterey
Oral Presentations Parallel

Speaker

Mr Daniel Araya (Mississippi State University)

Description

Accurate neutron scattering cross sections are essential for both fundamental nuclear
structure studies and applications in advanced reactor technologies. Vanadium,
particularly 51V, is of significant interest due to its structural and neutronic relevance
in fast-spectrum reactor systems. In this work, we report measurements of elastic and
inelastic neutron scattering cross sections for 51V at incident neutron energies of 3.0,
3.5, and 4.0 MeV.
The experiment was performed at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory
(UKAL) using the 7 MV Van de Graaff accelerator to produce a pulsed neutron
beam with a pulse rate of approximately 533 ns. Scattered neutrons from natural vanadium
targets were analyzed using the time-of-flight technique. Angular distributions
were measured over a range of 30◦ to 154◦ using a rotatable goniometer system.
To validate the experimental methodology and normalization procedure, measurements.
This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

were benchmarked against the well-established elastic scattering cross section
of 12C using a natural carbon reference target. Data acquisition was carried out with
CAEN, and subsequent analysis was performed using the ROOT data analysis toolkit.
Preliminary differential cross section results are presented for all three incident
neutron energies. These measurements contribute new data relevant for nuclear data
evaluations and improved modeling of neutron interactions in structural materials.

Contribution category Experiment
Presenter status Student

Author

Mr Daniel Araya (Mississippi State University)

Co-authors

Anthony Ramirez (LLNL) B. H. Tomas Lopez (Departments of Chemistry and Physics & Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506 USA) Benjamin Crider (Mississippi State University) Erin E Peters (University of Kentucky, College of Arts and Sciences) Prof. Jeff Vanhoy (US Naval Academy) L. D. Martin (Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506 USA) Sally Hicks (University of Kentucky)

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