Preliminary Pulsing Experiments to Measure Delayed Neutron Emission Parameters

Recent interest in delayed neutron parameters including comparisons between macroscopic (experimental) and microscopic (calculated) results have prompted a set of experiments using the 1MW Triga Reactor at the Texas A and M University (TAMU) Nuclear Science Center (NSC) designed to measure the complete set of seven-group delayed neutron parameters for several higher actinides. Operating the Nuclear Science Center Reactor (NSCR) in a pulsed mode, a complete set of delayed neutron parameters were measured for Np-237 and Am-243. The total delayed neutron yield per 100 fissions for Np-237 and Am-243 was found to be 1.14 {+-} 0.07 and 0.85 {+-} 0.05, respectively. Comparisons to previous measurements are made where such measurements are available