A measurement-based method to determine the photofission contribution to fission rate

A new measurement-based method has been developed to determine the photofission contribution to measured responses of fission reactions in a mixed radiation field of neutrons and photons. Using this method, reliable upper and lower bounds can be established for the photofission contributions. Knowledge of the photon energy spectrum and the photofission cross sections is not required. The method involves the measurement and calculation of spectral indices of a fission reaction relative to a reaction whose response does not include any photon contribution. The differential changes in the spectral indices are measured as well as calculated with and without a gamma-ray attenuator. The measurements include responses from both neutrons and photons, whereas the calculations include contributions from neutrons only. An equation is derived for the ratio of photofission rate to neutron-induced fission rate using the definitions of the spectral indices. From this equation, algebraic upper and lower bounds can be determined for the photofission contribution using a minimum and a maximum value for the mass attenuation coefficient of the gamma-attenuating material at all photon energies. The method was tested in the radiation field inside the Materials Dosimetry Reference Facility (MDRF), which is a National Institute of Standards and Technology reference neutron field operating at the Ford Nuclear Reactor at the University of Michigan. Established algebraic upper bounds for the photofission contributions to the ²³⁷Np and ²³⁸U fission reactions in the MDRF were found to overlap zero. Conservative statistical upper bounds were established at the 1σ level of confidence, and these are 0.87% for the ²³⁷Np fission reaction and 0.55% for the ²³⁸U fission reaction.