Abstract
Abstract The cross sections of the 148Sm(n,α)145Nd reaction were measured for the first time at neutron energies ranging from 4.8 to 5.3 MeV. The experiment was carried out on the Van de Graaff accelerator EG–5 at the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. Fast neutrons were produced via the 2H(d,n)3He reaction with a deuterium gas target. A twin gridded ionization chamber was used as the charged particle detector, with back–to–back 148Sm samples mounted on tantalum backings at the common cathode. The absolute neutron flux was measured using the 238U3O8 sample. The obtained cross section data were compared with those from existing nuclear data libraries and theoretical calculations using the TALYS–1.96 code. The present results for the 148Sm(n,α)145Nd reaction are expected to resolve discrepancies among various nuclear evaluation data.