Spallation reaction study for fission products in nuclear waste: Cross section measurements for ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr on proton and deuteron

Abstract

We have studied spallation reactions for the fission products ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr for the purpose of nuclear waste transmutation. The spallation cross sections on the proton and deuteron were obtained in inverse kinematics for the first time using secondary beams of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr at 185 MeV/nucleon at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. The target dependence has been investigated systematically, and the cross-section differences between the proton and deuteron are found to be larger for lighter spallation products. The experimental data are compared with the PHITS calculation, which includes cascade and evaporation processes. Our results suggest that both proton- and deuteron-induced spallation reactions are promising mechanisms for the transmutation of radioactive fission products.