U-233 PRODUCTION IN A THORIA-AND-WATER MULTILAYERED ASSEMBLY USING A 14-MEV NEUTRON SOURCE

Thoria rods and a water moderator are arranged in a simple rectangular geometry in a multilayered configuration to produce U-233 by bombardm ent with 14-MeV neutrons. The U-233 production rate is measured by mea suring the 312-keV gamma activity associated with Pa-233. Detailed neu tronic calculations have been made using the versatile MCNP Mon te Car lo code and the BMCCS2 cross-section library. There is very good agree ment between the experimental measurements of U-233 production and the corresponding calculations.