Fission product yield distribution in the 12, 14, and 16 MeV bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232Th

The absolute cumulative yields of various fission products in the 12, 14, and 16 MeV bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232 Th were determined using a recoil catcher and an off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique using the ELBE electron linac of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf in Dresden, Germany. The mass chain yields were obtained from the absolute cumulative yields by correcting the charge distribution. The peak-to-valley ratio, average light mass ( AL ) and heavy mass ( AH ) values, and average number of neutrons ( exp ) in the bremsstrahlung-induced fission of 232 Th at different excitation energies were obtained from the mass chain yield data. The present study and existing literature data for the 232 Th(γ, f) reaction are compared with similar data for the 238 U(γ, f) reaction at various excitation energies, and surprisingly different behavior was found in the two fissioning systems.