A method for determining the intensity of concomitant neutron source D(d, n)3He when studying the characteristics of delayed neutrons from nuclear fission induced by neutrons from reaction T(d, n)4He

A factor that may be responsible for the discrepancies in the total delay neutron yields, the relative yields of separate groups of delayed neutrons, and half-lives of their precursors has been investigated. These discrepancies are shown to be attributable to the effect of a concomitant neutron source—reaction D( d, n ) 3 He. Such a source is unavoidably present in an experiment where reaction T( d, n ) 4 He on a solid-state target is used as a neutron source. A method has been developed to calculate the contribution of neutrons from the reaction D( d, n ) 3 He to the measured total and relative yields of delayed neutrons and the half-lives of their precursors in heavy nuclei fission induced by neutrons with energies of 14–18 MeV. The energy dependence of the parameters of delayed neutron groups from the neutron-induced fission of 238 U nuclei in the energy range of 14.2–17.9 MeV is presented.