Study of proton- and deuteron-induced spallation reactions on the long-lived fission product 93Zr at 105 MeV/nucleon in inverse kinematics

Abstract Spallation reactions for the long-lived fission product $^{93}$ Zr have been studied in order to provide basic data necessary for nuclear waste transmutation. Isotopic-production cross sections via proton- and deuteron-induced spallation reactions on $^{93}$ Zr at 105 MeV/nucleon were measured in inverse kinematics at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. Remarkable jumps in isotopic production originating from the neutron magic number $N=50$ were observed in Zr and Y isotopes. The experimental results were compared to the PHITS calculations considering both the intranuclear cascade and evaporation processes, and the calculations greatly overestimated the measured production yield, corresponding to few-nucleon-removal reactions. The present data suggest that the spallation reaction is a potential candidate for the treatment of $^{93}$ Zr in spent nuclear fuel.