Investigation of the Shell Effect on Neutron Induced Cross Section of Actinides

Investigations has been made concerning the development of the effect of shell structure on neutron induced cross section, evaluations for Actinides elements in the energy range of 0-30 MeV. The EXIFON code, which is based on the analytical model for statistical multistep direct and multistep compound reactions, was used for the calculation of the cross section for (n-2n), (n-p) and (n-α) reaction channels. Results are compared with data from the experimental database, EXFOR from the IAEA nuclear data bank to deduce the shell effect. An empirical relation for the reaction cross section has been established for magic numbers nucleus in the (n-2n) reaction channel in the energy range. Results shows that the odd-even effect has also been observed as the cross section for odd-even nuclei are higher than their neighbouring even-even nuclei and with comparison in term of Shell correction, the cross section is higher when the Shell correction is not considered.