Study of the $^{10}$B(p,$\alpha$) and $^{10}$B(p,$\gamma$) reactions

The cross sections of the $^{10}$B(p,$\alpha$)$^{7}$Be and $^{10}$B(p,$\gamma$)$^{11}$C reactions have been measured for bombarding proton energies between 2.0 and 6.0 MeV. The experiments were performed at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory using a 10 MV FN Tandem accelerator. These reactions are relevant to potential next-generation nuclear reactors which propose to use boron as a fuel. For the $^{10}$B(p,$\alpha$)$^{7}$Be reaction, the differential cross section was measured at seven laboratory angles with 100 keV steps. A Legendre polynomial analysis was performed to extract the total cross sections and astrophysical S-factors. Final results will be presented. The $^{10}$B(p,$\gamma$)$^{11}$C reaction has never been studied for energies above 2 MeV. For this reaction, a $^{10}$B target was irradiated with protons with 500 keV steps for one hour ($\sim$3 $^{11}$C half-lives) at each energy. After the irradiation, the 511 keV $\gamma$-rays from the $\beta^{+}$ decay of $^{11}$C were detected in coincidence using two LaBr$_{3}$ detectors for another one hour. From these data the total cross section can be determined and preliminary results will be presented.