Measurement of Cross Sections for the ⁶³Cu(n, α)⁶⁰Co Reaction from Threshold to 10 MeV

Cross sections for the ⁶³Cu(n,α)⁶⁰Co reaction have been measured by activation for neutron energies from threshold to 10 MeV relative to well-known ²³⁸U fission cross sections. The data obtained are compared with values from the literature and the resulting spectrum-averaged cross sections based on the new results are given for the ²³⁵U thermal fission and ²⁵²Cf spontaneous fission neutron field. The new results indicate that the long-standing discrepancy between differential and integral data for the reaction ⁶³Cu(n,α)⁶⁰Co has been eliminated.