Absolute measurement and international intercomparison of 0.1-0.8 MeV monoenergetic neutron fluence rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Hongchang; Lu Hanlin; Rong Chaofan

1988-01-01

The methods for absolute measurement of 0.1-18MeV monoenergetic neutron fluence rate are described. Which include proton recoil telescope, semicoducetor telescope, hydrogen filled proportional counter and associated particale method. A long counter used as secondary recent international intercomparison of neutron fluence rate organized by BIPM, and the results were given

Development of a monoenergetic neutron beam (Theoretical aspects, experimental developments and applications); Desarrollo de un haz de neutrones monoenergeticos (Aspectos teoricos, desarrollos experimentales y aplicaciones)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varela G, A

2003-07-01

By the use of a neutron time of flight system at the Tandem Accelerator of the National Nuclear Research Institute; with neutrons provided by means of the {sup 2} H(d, n) {sup 3} He we intend to use the associated particle technique in order to have monoenergetic neutrons. This neutron beam will be used both in basic and applied research. (Author)

Solutions of Boltzmann`s Equation for Mono-energetic Neutrons in an Infinite Homogeneous Medium

Science.gov (United States)

Wigner, E. P.

1943-11-30

Boltzman's equation is solved for the case of monoenergetic neutrons created by a plane or point source in an infinite medium which has spherically symmetric scattering. The customary solution of the diffusion equation appears to be multiplied by a constant factor which is smaller than 1. In addition to this term the total neutron density contains another term which is important in the neighborhood of the source. It varies as 1/r{sup 2} in the neighborhood of a point source. (auth)

The cross-section data from neutron activation experiments on niobium in the NPI p-7Li quasi-monoenergetic neutron field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simakov S.P.

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The reaction of protons on 7Li target produces the high-energy quasi- monoenergetic neutron spectrum with the tail to lower energies. Proton energies of 19.8, 25.1, 27.6, 30.1, 32.6, 35.0 and 37.4 MeV were used to obtain quasi-monoenergetic neutrons with energies of 18, 21.6, 24.8, 27.6, 30.3, 32.9 and 35.6 MeV, respectively. Nb cross-section data for neutron energies higher than 22.5 MeV do not exist in the literature. Nb is the important material for fusion applications (IFMIF as well. The variable-energy proton beam of NPI cyclotron is utilized for the production of neutron field using thin lithium target. The carbon backing serves as the beam stopper. The system permits to produce neutron flux density about 109  n/cm2/s in peak at 30 MeV neutron energy. The niobium foils of 15 mm in diameter and approx. 0.75 g weight were activated. The nuclear spectroscopy methods with HPGe detector technique were used to obtain the activities of produced isotopes. The large set of neutron energies used in the experiment allows us to make the complex study of the cross-section values. The reactions (n,2n, (n,3n, (n,4n, (n,He3, (n,α and (n,2nα are studied. The cross-sections data of the (n,4n and (n,2nα are obtained for the first time. The cross-sections of (n,2n and (n,α reactions for higher neutron energies are strongly influenced by low energy tail of neutron spectra. This effect is discussed. The results are compared with the EAF-2007 library.

Complex eigenvalues for neutron transport equation with quadratically anisotropic scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sjoestrand, N.G.

1981-01-01

Complex eigenvalues for the monoenergetic neutron transport equation in the buckling approximation have been calculated for various combinations of linearly and quadratically anisotropic scattering. The results are discussed in terms of the time-dependent case. Tables are given of complex bucklings for real decay constants and of complex decay constants for real bucklings. The results fit nicely into the pattern of real and purely imaginary eigenvalues obtained earlier. (author)

Presentation of some methods for the solution of the monoenergetic neutrons transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valle G, E. del.

1978-01-01

The neutrons transport theory problems whose solution has been reached were collected in order to show that the transport equation is so complicated that different techniques were developed so as to give approximative numerical solutions to problems concerning the practical application. Such a technique, which had not been investigated in the literature dealing with these problems, is described here. The results which were obtained through this technique in undimensional problems of criticity are satisfactory and speaking in a conceptual way this method is extremely simple because it times. There is no limitation to deal with problems related neutrons sources with an arbitrary distribution and in principle the application of this technique can be extended to unhomogeneous environments. (author)

Solution to the monoenergetic time-dependent neutron transport equation with a time-varying source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.

1986-01-01

Even though fundamental time-dependent neutron transport problems have existed since the inception of neutron transport theory, it has only been recently that a reliable numerical solution to one of the basic problems has been obtained. Experience in generating numerical solutions to time-dependent transport equations has indicated that the multiple collision formulation is the most versatile numerical technique for model problems. The formulation coupled with a moment reconstruction of each collided flux component has led to benchmark-quality (four- to five-digit accuracy) numerical evaluation of the neutron flux in plane infinite geometry for any degree of scattering anisotropy and for both pulsed isotropic and beam sources. As will be shown in this presentation, this solution can serve as a Green's function, thus extending the previous results to more complicated source situations. Here we will be concerned with a time-varying source at the center of an infinite medium. If accurate, such solutions have both pedagogical and practical uses as benchmarks against which other more approximate solutions designed for a wider class of problems can be compared

Study of response of 3He detectors to monoenergetic neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abanades, A.; Andriamonje, S.; Arnould, H.; Barreau, G.; Bercion, M.; Casagrande, F.; Cennini, P.; Del Moral, R.; Gonzales, E.; Lacoste, V.; Pdemay, G.; Pravikoff, M.S.

1997-01-01

In the search of a hybrid system (the coupling of the particle accelerator to an under-critical reactor) for radioactive waste transmutation the TARC (Transmutation by Adiabatic Resonance Crossing) program has been developed. Due to experimental limitations, the time-energy relation at higher neutron energies, particularly, around 2 MeV, which is an important domain for TARC, cannot be applied. Consequently the responses of the 3 He ionization neutron detector developed for TARC experiment have been studied using a fast monoenergetic neutron source. The neutrons were produced by the interaction of the proton delivered by Van de Graaff accelerator of CENBG. The originality of the detector consists in its structure of three series of electric conductors which are mounted around the anode: a grid ensuring the detector proportionality, a cylindrical suit of alternating positive voltage and grounded wires aiming at eliminating the radial end effects, serving as veto and two cylinders serving as end plugs to eliminate the perpendicular end effects. Examples of anode spectra conditioned (in anticoincidence) by the mentioned vetoes are given. One can see the contribution of the elastic scattering from H and 3 He. By collimating the neutron beam through a borated polyethylene system it was possible to obtain a mapping of the detector allowing the study of its response as a function of the irradiated zones (anode and grid)

Mass distributions in monoenergetic-neutron-induced fission of 232Th

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glendenin, L.E.; Gindler, J.E.; Ahmad, I.; Henderson, D.J.; Meadows, J.W.

1980-01-01

Fission product yields for 38 masses were determined for the fission of 232 Th with essentially monoenergetic neutrons of 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.9, 6.4, 6.9, 7.6, and 8.0 MeV. Fission product activities were measured by Ge(Li) γ-ray spectrometry of irradiated 232 Th foils and by chemical separation of the fission product elements followed by β counting. The mass yield data for 232 Th(n,f ) show a sensitive increase of fission yields in the near-symmetric mass region (valley) with increasing incident neutron energy E/sub n/ and a pronounced dip in yield at the onset of second-chance fission just above the neutron binding energy (at approx. 6 MeV) where the excitation energy is lowered by competition with neutron evaporation prior to fission. The effect of second-chance fission is also seen in the yields of asymmetric peak products. A distinct third peak is observed at symmetry in the valley of the mass distribution, and enhanced yields are observed in the asymmetric peaks at masses associated with even Z (proton pairing effect). The fission yeilds of 232 Th(n,f ) are compared with those of 238 U(n,f ) and 232 Th

Novel design concepts for generating intense accelerator based beams of mono-energetic fast neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franklyn, C.B.; Govender, K.; Guzek, J.; Beer, A. de; Tapper, U.A.S.

2001-01-01

Full text: Successful application of neutron techniques in research, medicine and industry depends on the availability of suitable neutron sources. This is particularly important for techniques that require mono-energetic fast neutrons with well defined energy spread. There are a limited number of nuclear reactions available for neutron production and often the reaction yield is low, particularly for thin targets required for the production of mono-energetic neutron beams. Moreover, desired target materials are often in a gaseous form, such as the reactions D(d,n) 3 He and T(d,n) 3 He, requiring innovative design of targets, with sufficient target pressure and particle beam handling capability. Additional requirements, particularly important in industrial applications, and for research institutions with limited funds, are the cost effectiveness as well as small size, coupled with reliable and continuous operation of the system. Neutron sources based on high-power, compact radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) linacs can satisfy these criteria, if used with a suitable target system. This paper discusses the characteristics of a deuteron RFQ linear accelerator system coupled to a high pressure differentially pumped deuterium target. Such a source, provides in excess of 10 10 mono- energetic neutrons per second with minimal slow neutron and gamma-ray contamination, and is utilised for a variety of applications in the field of mineral identification and materials diagnostics. There is also the possibility of utilising a proposed enhanced system for isotope production. The RFQ linear accelerator consists of: 1) Deuterium 25 keV ion source injector; 2) Two close-coupled RFQ resonators, each powered by an rf amplifier supplying up to 300 kW of peak power at 425 MHz; 3) High energy beam transport system consisting of a beam line, a toroid for beam current monitoring, two steering magnets and a quadrupole triplet for beam focusing. Basic technical specifications of the RFQ linac

Green's function method for the monoenergetic transport equation in heterogeneous plane geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.

1995-01-01

For the past several years, a series of papers by the transport group at the University of Arizona dealing with benchmark solutions of the monoenergetic transport equation has appeared. The approach has been to take advantage of highly successful numerical Laplace Fourier transform inversions to provide benchmark quality solutions in infinite media, half-space in one and two dimensions and in homogeneous slabs. This paper extends the set of solutions to include heterogeneous slab geometry by using the recently established Green's Function Method (GFM). Analytical benchmark solutions are an essential part of the quality control of computational algorithms developed for particle transport. In addition, benchmarking methods have applications in the classroom by providing examples of how computational mathematics is used to solve physical problems to obtain meaningful answers. In a structural context, monoenergetic solutions are directly applicable to the investigation of the microlight environment within a leaf. The leaf is considered to be a composition of alternating layers of highly absorbing pigments and water superimposed on a refractively scattering background

Quadrature with arbitrary weight for the numerical solution of the critical slab Neutron Transport Equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez G, J.

2007-01-01

A standard procedure for the solution of singular integral equations is applied to the one-dimensional transport equation for monoenergetic neutrons. The results obtained with two versions of the procedure, differing only in the extent of the basic region to which they are applied, are compared with analytically derived results available for benchmarking. The procedures considered yield consistent results for the calculated neutron densities and eigenvalues. Several approximate expressions of the neutron density are used to render closed-form formulas for the densities which can then be analytically operated on to obtain expressions for extrapolation distances or angular densities or serve other purposes that require an analytical expression of the neutron density. (Author)

High-energy quasi-monoenergetic neutron fields: existing facilities and future needs

CERN Document Server

Pomp, S; Mayer, S; Reitz, G; Rottger, S; Silari, M; Smit, F D; Vincke, H; Yasuda, H

2014-01-01

The argument that well-characterised quasi-monoenergetic neutron (QMN) sources reaching into the energy domain >20 MeV are needed is presented. A brief overview of the existing facilities is given, and a list of key factors that an ideal QMN source for dosimetry and spectrometry should offer is presented. The authors conclude that all of the six QMN facilities currently in existence worldwide operate in sub-optimal conditions for dosimetry. The only currently available QMN facility in Europe capable of operating at energies >40 MeV, TSL in Uppsala, Sweden, is threatened with shutdown in the immediate future. One facility, NFS at GANIL, France, is currently under construction. NFS could deliver QMN beams up to about 30 MeV. It is, however, so far not clear if and when NFS will be able to offer QMN beams or operate with only so-called white neutron beams. It is likely that by 2016, QMN beams with energies >40 MeV will be available only in South Africa and Japan, with none in Europe.

Arbitrary quadratures determination of the monoenergetic neutron density in an homogeneous finite sphere with isotropic scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez G, J.

2015-09-01

The solution of the so-called Canonical problems of neutron transport theory has been given by Case, who developed a method akin to the classical eigenfunction expansion procedure, extended to admit singular eigenfunctions. The solution is given as a set consisting of a Fredholm integral equation coupled with a transcendental equation, which has to be solved for the expansion coefficients by iteration. CASE's method make extensive use of the results of the theory of functions of a complex variable and many successful approaches to solve in an approximate form the above mentioned set have been reported in the literature. We present here an entirely different approach which deals with the canonical problems in a more direct and elementary manner. As far as we know, the original idea for the latter method is due to Carlvik who devised the escape probability approximation to the solution of the neutron transport equation in its integral form. In essence, the procedure consists in assuming a sectionally constant form of the neutron density that in turn yields a set of linear algebraic equations obeyed by the assumed constant values of the density. Very well established techniques of numerical analysis for the solution of integral equations consist in independent approaches that generalize the sectionally constant approach by assuming a sectionally low degree polynomial for the unknown function. This procedure also known as the arbitrary quadratures method is especially suited to deal with cases where the kernel of the integral equation is singular. The author wishes to present the results obtained with the arbitrary quadratures method for the numerical calculation of the monoenergetic neutron density in a critical, homogeneous sphere of finite radius with isotropic scattering. The singular integral equation obeyed by the neutron density in the critical sphere is introduced, an outline of the method's main features is given, and tables and graphs of the density

Arbitrary quadratures determination of the monoenergetic neutron density in an homogeneous finite sphere with isotropic scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez G, J., E-mail: julian.sanchez@inin.gob.mx [ININ, Carretera Mexico-Toluca s/n, 52750 Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico (Mexico)

2015-09-15

The solution of the so-called Canonical problems of neutron transport theory has been given by Case, who developed a method akin to the classical eigenfunction expansion procedure, extended to admit singular eigenfunctions. The solution is given as a set consisting of a Fredholm integral equation coupled with a transcendental equation, which has to be solved for the expansion coefficients by iteration. CASE's method make extensive use of the results of the theory of functions of a complex variable and many successful approaches to solve in an approximate form the above mentioned set have been reported in the literature. We present here an entirely different approach which deals with the canonical problems in a more direct and elementary manner. As far as we know, the original idea for the latter method is due to Carlvik who devised the escape probability approximation to the solution of the neutron transport equation in its integral form. In essence, the procedure consists in assuming a sectionally constant form of the neutron density that in turn yields a set of linear algebraic equations obeyed by the assumed constant values of the density. Very well established techniques of numerical analysis for the solution of integral equations consist in independent approaches that generalize the sectionally constant approach by assuming a sectionally low degree polynomial for the unknown function. This procedure also known as the arbitrary quadratures method is especially suited to deal with cases where the kernel of the integral equation is singular. The author wishes to present the results obtained with the arbitrary quadratures method for the numerical calculation of the monoenergetic neutron density in a critical, homogeneous sphere of finite radius with isotropic scattering. The singular integral equation obeyed by the neutron density in the critical sphere is introduced, an outline of the method's main features is given, and tables and graphs of the density

Silicon diode measurements for monoenergetic neutrons and critical assemblies (H.P.R.R. and VIPER)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delafield, H.J.; Reading, A.H.

1981-04-01

The response of the silicon diode (AEI FNDD1) has been measured for monoenergetic neutrons of mean energies 0.56, 2.00 and 3.68 MeV. Using conversion factors from neutron fluence to kerma (ICRU, 1977) it is shown that the theoretical kerma response in muscle tissue is substantially uniform (+- 20%) over the neutron energy range from 250 keV to 17 MeV. Diode measurements were made at the Health Physics Research Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, U.S.A., during the 1979 international intercomparison of nuclear accident dosimetry systems. Measurements of kerma in free air and of the surface absorbed dose on the front surface of a phantom were made with the reactor bare, shielded by 20 cm concrete and by 5 cm steel. Further tests were made at the VIPER reactor at AWRE. These diode measurements, covering a range of neutron spectra, were in good agreement (+- 20%) with measurements made by the threshold detector system. (author)

Construction of monoenergetic neutron calibration fields using 45Sc(p, n)45Ti reaction at JAEA.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanimura, Y; Saegusa, J; Shikaze, Y; Tsutsumi, M; Shimizu, S; Yoshizawa, M

2007-01-01

The 8 and 27 keV monoenergetic neutron calibration fields have been developed by using (45)Sc(p, n)(45)Ti reaction. Protons from a 4-MV Pelletron accelerator are used to bombard a thin scandium target evaporated onto a platinum disc. The proton energies are finely adjusted to the resonance to generate the 8 and 27 keV neutrons by applying a high voltage to the target assemblies. The neutron energies were measured using the time-of-flight method with a lithium glass scintillation detector. The neutron fluences at a calibration point located at 50 cm from the target were evaluated using Bonner spheres. A long counter was placed at 2.2 m from the target and at 60 degrees to the direction of the proton beam in order to monitor the fluence at the calibration point. Fluence and dose equivalent rates at the calibration point are sufficient to calibrate many types of the neutron survey metres.

Construction of 144, 565 keV and 5.0 MeV monoenergetic neutron calibration fields at JAERI.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanimura, Y; Yoshizawa, M; Saegusa, J; Fujii, K; Shimizu, S; Yoshida, M; Shibata, Y; Uritani, A; Kudo, K

2004-01-01

Monoenergetic neutron calibration fields of 144, 565 keV and 5.0 MeV have been developed at the Facility of Radiation Standards of JAERI using a 4 MV Pelletron accelerator. The 7Li(p,n)7Be and 2H(d,n)3He reactions are employed for neutron production. The neutron energy was measured by the time-of-flight method with a liquid scintillation detector and calculated with the MCNP-ANT code. A long counter is employed as a neutron monitor because of the flat response. The monitor is set up where the influence of inscattered neutrons from devices and their supporting materials at a calibration point is as small as possible. The calibration coefficients from the monitor counts to the neutron fluence at a calibration point were obtained from the reference fluence measured with the transfer instrument of the primary standard laboratory (AIST), a 24.13 cm phi Bonner sphere counter. The traceability of the fields to AIST was established through the calibration.

Comparison of two Ssub(infinity) methods for solving the neutron transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mennig, J.; Brandt, D.; Haelg, W.

1978-01-01

A semianalytic method (S 0 sub(infinity)) is presented for solving the monoenergetic multi-region transport equation. This method is compared with results from S 1 sub(infinity)-theory given in the literature. Application of S 1 sub(infinity)-theory to reactor shields may lead to negative neutron fluxes and to flux oscillations. These unphysical effects are completely avoided by the new method. Numerical results demonstrate the limitations of S 1 sub(infinity) and confirm the numerical stability of (S 0 sub(infinity)). (Auth.)

On discontinuous Galerkin and discrete ordinates approximations for neutron transport equation and the critical eigenvalue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asadzadeh, M.; Thevenot, L.

2010-01-01

The objective of this paper is to give a mathematical framework for a fully discrete numerical approach for the study of the neutron transport equation in a cylindrical domain (container model,). More specifically, we consider the discontinuous Galerkin (D G) finite element method for spatial approximation of the mono-energetic, critical neutron transport equation in an infinite cylindrical domain ??in R3 with a polygonal convex cross-section ? The velocity discretization relies on a special quadrature rule developed to give optimal estimates in discrete ordinate parameters compatible with the quasi-uniform spatial mesh. We use interpolation spaces and derive optimal error estimates, up to maximal available regularity, for the fully discrete scalar flux. Finally we employ a duality argument and prove superconvergence estimates for the critical eigenvalue.

Development of high pressure deuterium gas targets for the generation of intense mono-energetic fast neutron beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzek, J.; Richardson, K.; Franklyn, C.B.; Waites, A.; McMurray, W.R.; Watterson, J.I.W.; Tapper, U.A.S.

1999-01-01

Two different technical solutions to the problem of generation of mono-energetic fast neutron beams on the gaseous targets are presented here. A simple and cost-effective design of a cooled windowed gas target system is described in the first part of this paper. It utilises a thin metallic foil window and circulating deuterium gas cooled down to 100 K. The ultimate beam handling capability of such target is determined by the properties of the window. Reliable performance of this gas target system was achieved at 1 bar of deuterium gas, when exposed to a 45 μA beam of 5 MeV deuterons, for periods in excess of 6 h. Cooling of the target gas resulted in increased fast neutron output and improved neutron to gamma-ray ratio. The second part of this paper discusses the design of a high pressure, windowless gas target for use with pulsed, low duty cycle accelerators. A rotating seal concept was applied to reduce the gas load in a differentially pumped system. This allows operation at 1.23 bar of deuterium gas pressure in the gas cell region. Such a gas target system is free from the limitations of the windowed target but special attention has to be paid to the heat dissipation capability of the beam dump, due to the use of a thin target. The rotating seal concept is particularly suitable for use with accelerators such as radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) linacs that operate with a very high peak current at low duty cycle. The performance of both target systems was comprehensively characterized using the time-of-flight (TOF) technique. This demonstrated that very good quality mono-energetic fast neutron beams were produced with the slow neutron and gamma-ray component below 10% of the total target output

Fission product yield measurements using monoenergetic photon beams

Science.gov (United States)

Krishichayan; Bhike, M.; Tonchev, A. P.; Tornow, W.

2017-09-01

Measurements of fission products yields (FPYs) are an important source of information on the fission process. During the past couple of years, a TUNL-LANL-LLNL collaboration has provided data on the FPYs from quasi monoenergetic neutron-induced fission on 235U, 238U, and 239Pu and has revealed an unexpected energy dependence of both asymmetric fission fragments at energies below 4 MeV. This peculiar FPY energy dependence was more pronounced in neutron-induced fission of 239Pu. In an effort to understand and compare the effect of the incoming probe on the FPY distribution, we have carried out monoenergetic photon-induced fission experiments on the same 235U, 238U, and 239Pu targets. Monoenergetic photon beams of Eγ = 13.0 MeV were provided by the HIγS facility, the world's most intense γ-ray source. In order to determine the total number of fission events, a dual-fission chamber was used during the irradiation. These irradiated samples were counted at the TUNL's low-background γ-ray counting facility using high efficient HPGe detectors over a period of 10 weeks. Here we report on our first ever photofission product yield measurements obtained with monoenegetic photon beams. These results are compared with neutron-induced FPY data.

Fission product yield measurements using monoenergetic photon beams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krishichayan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Measurements of fission products yields (FPYs are an important source of information on the fission process. During the past couple of years, a TUNL-LANL-LLNL collaboration has provided data on the FPYs from quasi monoenergetic neutron-induced fission on 235U, 238U, and 239Pu and has revealed an unexpected energy dependence of both asymmetric fission fragments at energies below 4 MeV. This peculiar FPY energy dependence was more pronounced in neutron-induced fission of 239Pu. In an effort to understand and compare the effect of the incoming probe on the FPY distribution, we have carried out monoenergetic photon-induced fission experiments on the same 235U, 238U, and 239Pu targets. Monoenergetic photon beams of Eγ = 13.0 MeV were provided by the HIγS facility, the world's most intense γ-ray source. In order to determine the total number of fission events, a dual-fission chamber was used during the irradiation. These irradiated samples were counted at the TUNL's low-background γ-ray counting facility using high efficient HPGe detectors over a period of 10 weeks. Here we report on our first ever photofission product yield measurements obtained with monoenegetic photon beams. These results are compared with neutron-induced FPY data.

International key comparison of neutron fluence measurements in mono-energetic neutron fields: C.C.R.I.(3)-K10

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, J.; Wang, Z.; Rong, C. [China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), Beijing, People' s Republic of China (China); Lovestam, G.; Plompen, A.; Puglisi, N. [EC-JRC-Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Geel (Belgium); Gilliam, D.M.; Eisenhauer, C.M.; Nico, J.S.; Dewey, M.S. [National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg (United States); Kudo, K.; Uritani, A.; Harano, H.; Takeda, N. [National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), Tsukuba (Japan); Thomas, D.J.; Roberts, N.J.; Bennett, A.; Kolkowski, P. [National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington (United Kingdom); Moisseev, N.N.; Kharitonov, I.A. [Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology (VNIIM), St Petersburg (Russian Federation); Guldbakke, S.; Klein, H.; Nolte, R.; Schlegel, D. [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig (Germany)

2007-12-15

C.C.R.I. Section III (neutron measurements) conducted a unique key comparison of neutron fluence measurements in mono-energetic neutron fields. In contrast to former comparisons, here the fluence measurements were performed with the participants' instruments in the same neutron fields at the P.T.B. accelerator facility. Seven laboratories- the C.I.A.E. (China), I.R.M.M. (E.C.), N.M.I.J. (Japan), N.I.S.T. (USA), N.P.L. (UK), P.T.B. (Germany) and the V.N.I.I.M. (Russia)-employed their primary standard reference methods or transfer instruments carefully calibrated against their primary standards, to determine the fluence of 0.144 MeV, 1.2 MeV, 5.0 MeV and 14.8 MeV neutrons and reported calibration coefficients for a selected neutron monitor and each neutron energy with a detailed uncertainty budget for the measurements. The key comparison reference values (K.C.R.V.) were finally evaluated as the weighted mean values of the neutron fluence at 1 m distance from the target in vacuum per neutron monitor count. The uncertainties of each K.C.R.V. amounted to about 1%. The degree of equivalence (D.o.E.), defined as the deviation of the result reported by the laboratories for each energy from the corresponding K.C.R.V., and the associated expanded uncertainty are also reported. The deviations between the results of two laboratories each with the corresponding expanded uncertainties complete the documentation of the degrees of equivalence. (authors)

Spherical harmonics solutions of multi-dimensional neutron transport equation by finite Fourier transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Keisuke

1977-01-01

A method of solution of a monoenergetic neutron transport equation in P sub(L) approximation is presented for x-y and x-y-z geometries using the finite Fourier transformation. A reactor system is assumed to consist of multiregions in each of which the nuclear cross sections are spatially constant. Since the unknown functions of this method are the spherical harmonics components of the neutron angular flux at the material boundaries alone, the three- and two-dimensional equations are reduced to two- and one-dimensional equations, respectively. The present approach therefore gives fewer unknowns than in the usual series expansion method or in the finite difference method. Some numerical examples are shown for the criticality problem. (auth.)

Linear extended neutron diffusion theory for semi-in finites homogeneous means

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vazquez R, R.; Vazquez R, A.; Espinosa P, G.

2009-10-01

Originally developed for heterogeneous means, the linear extended neutron diffusion theory is applied to the limit case of monoenergetic neutron diffusion in a semi-infinite homogeneous mean with a neutron source, located in the coordinate origin situated in the frontier of dispersive material. The monoenergetic neutron diffusion is studied taking into account the spatial deviations in the neutron flux to the interfacial current caused by the neutron source, as well as the influence of the spatial deviations in the absorption rate. The developed pattern is an unidimensional model for an energy group obtained of application of volumetric average diffusion equation in the moderator. The obtained results are compared against the classic diffusion theory and qualitatively against the neutron transport theory. (Author)

Exact analytical solution of time-independent neutron transport equation, and its applications to systems with a point source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikata, Y.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • An exact solution for the one-speed neutron transport equation is obtained. • This solution as well as its derivation are believed to be new. • Neutron flux for a purely absorbing material with a point neutron source off the origin is obtained. • Spherically as well as cylindrically piecewise constant cross sections are studied. • Neutron flux expressions for a point neutron source off the origin are believed to be new. - Abstract: An exact analytical solution of the time-independent monoenergetic neutron transport equation is obtained in this paper. The solution is applied to systems with a point source. Systematic analysis of the solution of the time-independent neutron transport equation, and its applications represent the primary goal of this paper. To the best of the author’s knowledge, certain key results on the scalar neutron flux as well as their derivations are new. As an application of these results, a scalar neutron flux for a purely absorbing medium with a spherically piecewise constant cross section and an isotropic point neutron source off the origin as well as that for a cylindrically piecewise constant cross section with a point neutron source off the origin are obtained. Both of these results are believed to be new

Detection of special nuclear material from delayed neutron emission induced by a dual-particle monoenergetic source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayer, M. [Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 (United States); Nattress, J.; Jovanovic, I., E-mail: ijov@umich.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States)

2016-06-27

Detection of unique signatures of special nuclear materials is critical for their interdiction in a variety of nuclear security and nonproliferation scenarios. We report on the observation of delayed neutrons from fission of uranium induced in dual-particle active interrogation based on the {sup 11}B(d,n γ){sup 12}C nuclear reaction. Majority of the fissions are attributed to fast fission induced by the incident quasi-monoenergetic neutrons. A Li-doped glass–polymer composite scintillation neutron detector, which displays excellent neutron/γ discrimination at low energies, was used in the measurements, along with a recoil-based liquid scintillation detector. Time-dependent buildup and decay of delayed neutron emission from {sup 238}U were measured between the interrogating beam pulses and after the interrogating beam was turned off, respectively. Characteristic buildup and decay time profiles were compared to the common parametrization into six delayed neutron groups, finding a good agreement between the measurement and nuclear data. This method is promising for detecting fissile and fissionable materials in cargo scanning applications and can be readily integrated with transmission radiography using low-energy nuclear reaction sources.

Neutrons production during the interaction of monoenergetic electrons with a thin tungsten target

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soto B, T. G.; Medina C, D.; Baltazar R, A.; Vega C, H. R.

2016-10-01

When a linear accelerator for radiotherapy operates with acceleration voltages higher than 8 MV, neutrons are produced, as secondary radiation which deposits an undesirable and undesirable dose in the patient. Depending on the type of tumor, its location in the body and the characteristics of the patient, the cancer treatment with a Linac is performed with photon or electron beams, which produce neutrons through reactions (γ, n) and (e, e n) respectively. Because the effective section for the neutrons production by reactions (γ, n) is approximately two orders of magnitude larger than the effective section of the reactions (e, e n), studies on the effects of this secondary radiation have focused on photo neutrons. en a Linac operates with electron beams, the beam coming out of the magnetic deflector is impinged on the dispersion lamella in order to cause quasi-elastic interactions and to expand the spatial distribution of the electrons; the objective of this work is to determine the characteristics of the photons and neutrons that occur when a mono-energetic electron beam of 2 mm in diameter (pencil beam) is made to impinge on a tungsten lamella of 1 cm in diameter and 0.5 mm of thickness. The study was done using Monte Carlo methods with code MCNP6 for electron beams of 8, 10, 12, 15 and 18 MeV. The spectra of photons and neutrons were estimated in 4 point detectors placed at different equidistant points from the center of the lamella. (Author)

SEE cross section calibration and application to quasi-monoenergetic and spallation facilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alía Rubén García

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We describe an approach to calibrate SEE-based detectors in monoenergetic fields and apply the resulting semi-empiric responses to more general mixed-field cases in which a broad variety of particle species and energy spectra are involved. The calibration of the response functions is based both on experimental proton and neutron data and considerations derived from Monte Carlo simulations using the FLUKA code. The application environments include the quasi-monoenergetic neutrons at RCNP, the atmospheric-like VESUVIO spallation spectrum and the CHARM high-energy accelerator test facility.

Arbitrary quadrature: its application in the solution of one-dimensional, planar neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, J.

2010-10-01

A standard numerical procedure for the solution of singular integral equations is applied to the one-dimensional transport equation for monoenergetic neutrons. As is usual in quadrature methods, the procedure yields an Eigen system whose solution provide, for the critical slab, both the eigenvalue which is proportional to the number of secondary neutrons per collision, and the density as a function of position. The results obtained with two versions of the procedure, differing only in the extent of the basic region to which they are applied, are compared with analytically derived results available for benchmarking. The procedures considered yield consistent results for the calculated neutron densities and eigenvalues. Since the one-dimensional transport kernel and its spatial moments are integrable and their integrals can be put in terms of exponential integral functions, the resulting approximations to the neutron density yield somewhat lengthy but closed, forms. These approximate expressions of the neutron density can be used to render, after they are operated on, closed-form formulas for build-up factors, extrapolation distances or angular densities or employed for other purposes that require an analytical expression of the neutron density. As an example of this latter capability, the results of the calculation of the angular density at the surface of the slab are provided. (Author)

Computational modeling for the angular reconstruction of monoenergetic neutron flux in non-multiplying slabs using synthetic diffusion approximation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mansur, Ralph S.; Barros, Ricardo C.

2011-01-01

We describe a method to determine the neutron scalar flux in a slab using monoenergetic diffusion model. To achieve this goal we used three ingredients in the computational code that we developed on the Scilab platform: a spectral nodal method that generates numerical solution for the one-speed slab-geometry fixed source diffusion problem with no spatial truncation errors; a spatial reconstruction scheme to yield detailed profile of the coarse-mesh solution; and an angular reconstruction scheme to yield approximately the neutron angular flux profile at a given location of the slab migrating in a given direction. Numerical results are given to illustrate the efficiency of the offered code. (author)

The infinite medium Green's function for neutron transport in plane geometry 40 years later

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.

1993-01-01

In 1953, the first of what was supposed to be two volumes on neutron transport theory was published. The monograph, entitled open-quotes Introduction to the Theory of Neutron Diffusionclose quotes by Case et al., appeared as a Los Alamos National Laboratory report and was to be followed by a second volume, which never appeared as intended because of the death of Placzek. Instead, Case and Zweifel collaborated on the now classic work entitled Linear Transport Theory 2 in which the underlying mathematical theory of linear transport was presented. The initial monograph, however, represented the coming of age of neutron transport theory, which had its roots in radiative transfer and kinetic theory. In addition, it provided the first benchmark results along with the mathematical development for several fundamental neutron transport problems. In particular, one-dimensional infinite medium Green's functions for the monoenergetic transport equation in plane and spherical geometries were considered complete with numerical results to be used as standards to guide code development for applications. Unfortunately, because of the limited computational resources of the day, some numerical results were incorrect. Also, only conventional mathematics and numerical methods were used because the transport theorists of the day were just becoming acquainted with more modern mathematical approaches. In this paper, Green's function solution is revisited in light of modern numerical benchmarking methods with an emphasis on evaluation rather than theoretical results. The primary motivation for considering the Green's function at this time is its emerging use in solving finite and heterogeneous media transport problems

Characteristics of the quarry as shielding for "2"4"1AmBe neutrons and monoenergetic photons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vega C, H. R.; Hernandez D, V. M.; Letechipia de L, C.; Salas L, M. A.; Rodriguez R, J. A.; Juarez A, C. A.

2016-09-01

Shielding is an important element in radiation protection since allows the management of radiation sources. Currently there are different materials of natural or anthropogenic origin that are used as shielding for both photons and neutrons. The quarry is a material of natural origin and abundant in our country, which is used in construction or for the manufacture of sculptures, however its characteristics as shielding have not been reported. In this paper we report some of the properties of the quarry as shielding for monoenergetic photons and for neutrons produced by an isotopic neutron source of "2"4"1AmBe. A quarry piece was used to determine its density and its chemical composition, with the XCOM code the elemental composition was determined and the mass interaction and total attenuation coefficients of the quarry were determined with photons of 10"-"3 to 10"-"5 MeV; the interaction coefficients included coherent dispersion, photoelectric absorption, Compton dispersion and the production of pairs in the nuclear and electronic field. Using the MCNP5 code, a narrow geometry attenuation experiment was modeled and the photon fluence was estimated that reaches a point detector at a distance of 42 cm from a point source, isotropic and monoenergetic photon when the source and the point detector were added quarry pieces of different thicknesses. The reduction of the number of photons as a function of the thickness of the quarry was used to determine the coefficient of linear attenuation of the quarry before photons of 0.03, 0.07, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 2 and 3 MeV that were the same as those calculated with the XCOM code. With the MCNP, the K a and H(10) transmission curves were also calculated. This same model was used to determined the variation of the "2"4"1AmBe neutron spectrum as a function of quarry thickness, as well as the E_R_O_T and H(10) transmission curves. (Author)

On an analytical formulation for the mono-energetic neutron space-kinetic equation in full cylinder symmetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, F.R.; Bodmann, B.E.J.; Vilhena, M.T.; Carvalho, F.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The present work presents an exact solution to neutron spatial kinetic equation. • It is an exact solution in a heterogeneous cylinder with temporal dependence. • The solution was constructed through the separation of variables method. - Abstract: In the present work we discuss a system of partial differential equations that model neutron space-kinetics in cylindrical geometry and are defined by two sectionally homogeneous cylinder cells, mono-energetic neutrons and one group of delayed neutron precursors. The solution is determined using the technique of variable separation. The associated complete spectra with respect to each variable separation are analysed and truncated such as to allow a parameterized global solution. For the obtained solution we present some numerical results for the scalar neutron flux and its time dependence and projection on the cylinder axis z and the radial and cylinder axis projection. As a case study we consider an insertion of an absorbing medium in the upper cylinder cell. Continuity of the scalar flux at the interface between the two cylinder elements and conserved current density is explained and related to scale invariance of the partial differential equation system together with the initial and boundary conditions. Some numerical results for the scalar angular neutron flux and associated current densities are shown.

Neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berthoud, Georges; Ducros, Gerard; Feron, Damien; Guerin, Yannick; Latge, Christian; Limoge, Yves; Santarini, Gerard; Seiler, Jean-Marie; Vernaz, Etienne; Coste-Delclaux, Mireille; M'Backe Diop, Cheikh; Nicolas, Anne; Andrieux, Catherine; Archier, Pascal; Baudron, Anne-Marie; Bernard, David; Biaise, Patrick; Blanc-Tranchant, Patrick; Bonin, Bernard; Bouland, Olivier; Bourganel, Stephane; Calvin, Christophe; Chiron, Maurice; Damian, Frederic; Dumonteil, Eric; Fausser, Clement; Fougeras, Philippe; Gabriel, Franck; Gagnier, Emmanuel; Gallo, Daniele; Hudelot, Jean-Pascal; Hugot, Francois-Xavier; Dat Huynh, Tan; Jouanne, Cedric; Lautard, Jean-Jacques; Laye, Frederic; Lee, Yi-Kang; Lenain, Richard; Leray, Sylvie; Litaize, Olivier; Magnaud, Christine; Malvagi, Fausto; Mijuin, Dominique; Mounier, Claude; Naury, Sylvie; Nicolas, Anne; Noguere, Gilles; Palau, Jean-Marc; Le Pallec, Jean-Charles; Peneliau, Yannick; Petit, Odile; Poinot-Salanon, Christine; Raepsaet, Xavier; Reuss, Paul; Richebois, Edwige; Roque, Benedicte; Royer, Eric; Saint-Jean, Cyrille de; Santamarina, Alain; Serot, Olivier; Soldevila, Michel; Tommasi, Jean; Trama, Jean-Christophe; Tsilanizara, Aime; Behar, Christophe; Provitina, Olivier; Lecomte, Michael; Forestier, Alain; Bender, Alexandra; Parisot, Jean-Francois; Finot, Pierre

2013-10-01

This bibliographical note presents a reference book which addresses the study of neutron transport in matter, the study of conditions for a chain reaction and the study of modifications of matter composition due to nuclear reactions. This book presents the main nuclear data, their measurement, assessment and processing, and the spallation. It proposes an overview of methods applied for the study of neutron transport: basic equations and their derived forms, deterministic methods and Monte Carlo method of resolution of the Boltzmann equation, methods of resolution of generalized Bateman equations, methods of time resolution of space kinetics coupled equations. It presents the main calculation codes, discusses the qualification and experimental aspects, and gives an overview of neutron transport applications: neutron transport calculation of reactors, neutron transport coupled with other disciplines, physics of fuel cycle, criticality

Pulsed and monoenergetic beams for neutron cross-section measurements using activation and scattering techniques at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hutcheson, A. [Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, P.O. Box 90308, Durham, NC 27708 (United States)]. E-mail: hutch@tunl.duke.edu; Angell, C.T. [Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, P.O. Box 90308, Durham, NC 27708 (United States); Becker, J.A. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Boswell, M. [Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, P.O. Box 90308, Durham, NC 27708 (United States); Crowell, A.S. [Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, P.O. Box 90308, Durham, NC 27708 (United States); Dashdorj, D. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Fallin, B. [Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, P.O. Box 90308, Durham, NC 27708 (United States); Fotiades, N. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Howell, C.R.; Karwowski, H.J.; Kelley, J.H.; Kiser, M. [Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, P.O. Box 90308, Durham, NC 27708 (United States); Macri, R.A. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Nelson, R.O. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Pedroni, R.S. [NC A and T State University, 1601 East Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27411 (United States); Tonchev, A.P.; Tornow, W. [Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, P.O. Box 90308, Durham, NC 27708 (United States); Vieira, D.J. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Weisel, G.J. [Penn State Altoona, 3000 Ivyside Park, Altoona, PA 16601 (United States); Wilhelmy, J.B. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)

2007-08-15

In support of the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances initiative, an experimental program has been developed at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) to measure (n,xn) cross-sections with both in-beam and activation techniques with the goal of improving the partial cross-section database for the NNSA Stockpile Stewardship Program. First experimental efforts include excitation function measurements on {sup 235,238}U and {sup 241}Am using pulsed and monoenergetic neutron beams with E {sub n} = 5-15 MeV. Neutron-induced partial cross-sections were measured by detecting prompt {gamma} rays from the residual nuclei using various combinations of clover and planar HPGe detectors in the TUNL shielded neutron source area. Complimentary activation measurements using DC neutron beams have also been performed in open geometry in our second target area. The neutron-induced activities were measured in the TUNL low-background counting area. In this presentation, we include detailed information about the irradiation procedures and facilities and preliminary data on first measurements using this capability.

Measurement of activation cross sections for quasi-monoenergetic neutron induced reactions of {sup 89}Y

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zaman, Muhammad; Kim, Guinyun; Kim, Kwangsoo; Nadeem, Muhammad [Kyungpook National University, Department of Physics and Center for High Energy Physics, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Naik, Haladhara [Kyungpook National University, Department of Physics and Center for High Energy Physics, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Radiochemistry Division, Mumbai (India); Lee, Manwoo [Dongnam Inst. of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Research Center, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2017-09-15

The neutron induced cross sections of the {sup 89}Y(n, 2n){sup 88}Y, {sup 89}Y(n, 3n){sup 87}Y and {sup 89}Y(n, 4n){sup 86}Y reactions were measured in the neutron energy range of 15.2 to 37.2 MeV by using an activation and off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique. The quasi-monoenergetic neutrons used for the above reactions are based on a {sup 9}Be(p, n) reaction. Simulations of the neutron spectra from the Be target were done using the MCNPX 2.6.0 program. Theoretical calculations were performed for the {sup 89}Y(n, 2n){sup 88}Y, {sup 89}Y(n, 3n){sup 87}Y and {sup 89}Y(n, 4n){sup 86}Y reaction cross sections using nuclear model code Talys 1.8. The measured and calculated cross sections were compared with the literature data given in EXFOR and the TENDL-2015 data libraries. The present data of the {sup 89}Y(n, xn) reaction were also compared with the similar data of the {sup 89}Y(γ, xn) reaction to examine the effect of the entrance channel parameters as well as the role of projectiles and ejectiles. (orig.)

Behavior of neutrons under different thicknesses of moderation; Comportamiento de los neutrones bajo diferentes espesores de moderacion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baltazar R, A. [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Ingenieria Electrica, Programa de Doctorado en Ingenieria y Tecnologia Aplicada, 98068 Zacatecas, Zac. (Mexico); Medina C, D.; Soto B, T. G. [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Estudios Nucleares, Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Basicas, 98068 Zacatecas, Zac. (Mexico); Vega C, H. R., E-mail: raigosa.antonio@hotmail.com [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Estudios Nucleares, Cipres No. 10, Fracc. La Penuela, 98068 Zacatecas, Zac. (Mexico)

2016-10-15

Neutrons occur naturally, regardless of whether they are obtained as a by-product of other reactions or intentionally, mainly as a by-product of the interaction of cosmic rays with the nuclei of the atmosphere, and in anthropogenic or artificial form with neutron generators, nuclear reactors, radioisotope sources, etc. Due to their high radiobiological efficiency is important measure them in order to estimate the effective dose in occupationally exposed personnel and the public in general. This dose depends on the amount of neutrons and their energy; in order to reduce neutron energy, light materials based on H, D, C, Be are used which moderate and thermalize them. The objective of this work was to determine the behavior of monoenergetic sources of neutrons in their transport within polyethylene of different thicknesses. The study was carried out using Monte Carlo methods with the code MCNP5, where 23 monoenergetic sources of I E(-9) were used at 20 MeV by influencing the neutrons on various polyethylene surfaces whose thickness was varied from 5.08 to 30.48 cm and the total neutron flux was estimated, as well as its spectrum when crossing the various thicknesses used in the study. (Author)

Determination of cross sections for the production of low-energy monoenergetic neutron fields; Determination de sections efficaces pour la production de champs neutroniques monoenergetiques de basse energie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lamirand, Vincent

2011-11-18

The response of a neutron detector, defined as the reading of the device per unit of incident fluence or dose, varies with neutron energy. The experimental determination of this variation, i.e. of the response function of this instrument, has to be performed by facilities producing monoenergetic neutron fields. These neutrons are commonly produced by interaction between accelerated ions (proton or deuteron) onto a thin target composed of a reactive layer deposited on a metallic backing. Using the {sup 7}Li(p, n), {sup 3}H(p, n), {sup 2}H(d, n) and {sup 3}H(d, n) reactions, monoenergetic neutrons are obtained between 120 keV and 20 MeV in the ion beam direction (0 deg.). To reach lower neutron energies, the angle of the measuring point with respect to the ion beam direction can be increased. However, this method presents several problems of neutron energy and fluence homogeneities over the detector surface, as well as an important increase of the scattered neutron contribution. Another solution is to investigate other nuclear reactions, as {sup 45}Sc(p, n) allowing to extend the neutron energy range down to 8 keV at 0 deg.. A complete study of this reaction and its cross section has been undertaken within the framework of a scientific cooperation between the laboratory of neutron metrology and dosimetry (IRSN, France), two European national metrological institutes, the National Physical Laboratory (UK) and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Germany), and IRMM, the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (EC). In parallel, other possible reactions have been investigated: {sup 65}Cu(p, n), {sup 51}V(p, n), {sup 57}Fe(p, n), {sup 49}Ti(p, n), {sup 53}Cr(p, n) and {sup 37}Cl(p, n). They were compared in terms of neutron fluence and minimum energy of the produced neutrons. (author)

Behavior of neutrons under different thicknesses of moderation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baltazar R, A.; Medina C, D.; Soto B, T. G.; Vega C, H. R.

2016-10-01

Neutrons occur naturally, regardless of whether they are obtained as a by-product of other reactions or intentionally, mainly as a by-product of the interaction of cosmic rays with the nuclei of the atmosphere, and in anthropogenic or artificial form with neutron generators, nuclear reactors, radioisotope sources, etc. Due to their high radiobiological efficiency is important measure them in order to estimate the effective dose in occupationally exposed personnel and the public in general. This dose depends on the amount of neutrons and their energy; in order to reduce neutron energy, light materials based on H, D, C, Be are used which moderate and thermalize them. The objective of this work was to determine the behavior of monoenergetic sources of neutrons in their transport within polyethylene of different thicknesses. The study was carried out using Monte Carlo methods with the code MCNP5, where 23 monoenergetic sources of I E(-9) were used at 20 MeV by influencing the neutrons on various polyethylene surfaces whose thickness was varied from 5.08 to 30.48 cm and the total neutron flux was estimated, as well as its spectrum when crossing the various thicknesses used in the study. (Author)

Experiments on iron shield transmission of quasi-monoenergetic neutrons generated by 43- and 68-MeV protons via the 7Li(p,n) reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakashima, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Shun-ichi; Nakao, Noriaki

1996-03-01

In order to provide benchmark data of neutrons transmitted through iron shields in the intermediate-energy region, spatial distributions of neutron energy spectra and reaction rates behind and inside the iron shields of thickness up to 130 cm were measured for 43- and 68-MeVp- 7 Li neutrons using a quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam source at the 90-MV AVF cyclotron facility of the TLARA facility in JAERI. The measured data by five kinds of detectors: the BC501A detector, the Bonner ball counter, 238 U and 232 Th fission counters, 7 LiF and nat LiF TLDs and solid state nuclear track detector, are numerically provided in this report in the energy region between 10 -4 eV and the energy of peak neutrons generated by the 7 Li(p,n) reaction. (author)

A monoenergetic electron source generated by nuclear stimulated desorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelson, I.; Levy, Y.; Nir, D.; Haustein, P.E.

1994-01-01

A series of measurements of nuclear stimulated desorption was performed for 103 Ru, using thin ruthenium films irradiated by thermal neutrons. The magnitude, time dependence and electric charge state of the outgoing 103m Rh flux was investigated. The utilization of monoenergetic electrons accompanying the 103 Rh decay for thin film thickness measurement is considered. (Author)

Quasi-monoenergetic neutron energy spectra for 246 and 389 MeV (7)Li(p,n) reactions at angles from 0 degrees to 300 degrees

CERN Document Server

Iwamoto, Y; Nakamura, T; Nakashima, H; Mares, V; Itoga, T; Matsumoto, T; Nakane, Y; Feldbaumer, E; Jaegerhofer, L; Pioch, C; Tamii, A; Satoh, D; Masuda, A; Sato, T; Iwase, H; Yashima, H; Nishiyama, J; Hagiwara, M; Hatanaka, K; Sakamoto, Y

2011-01-01

The authors measured the neutron energy spectra of a quasi-monoenergetic (7)Li(p,n) neutron source with 246 and 389 MeV protons set at seven angles (0 degrees, 2.5 degrees, 5 degrees, 10 degrees, 15 degrees, 20 degrees and 30 degrees), using a time-of-flight (TOF) method employing organic scintillators NE213 at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) of Osaka University. The energy spectra of the source neutrons were precisely deduced down to 2 MeV at 0 degrees and 10 MeV at other angles. The cross-sections of the peak neutron production reaction at 0 degrees were on the 35-40 mb line of other experimental data, and the peak neutron angular distribution agreed well with the Taddeucci formula. Neutron energy spectra below 100 MeV at all angles were comparable, but the shapes of the continuum above 150 MeV changed considerably with the angle. In order to consider the correction required to derive the response in the peak region from the measured total response for high-energy neutron monitors such as DAR...

Experiments on iron shield transmission of quasi-monoenergetic neutrons generated by 43- and 68-MeV protons via the {sup 7}Li(p,n) reaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakashima, Hiroshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment; Tanaka, Shun-ichi; Nakao, Noriaki [and others

1996-03-01

In order to provide benchmark data of neutrons transmitted through iron shields in the intermediate-energy region, spatial distributions of neutron energy spectra and reaction rates behind and inside the iron shields of thickness up to 130 cm were measured for 43- and 68-MeVp-{sup 7}Li neutrons using a quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam source at the 90-MV AVF cyclotron facility of the TLARA facility in JAERI. The measured data by five kinds of detectors: the BC501A detector, the Bonner ball counter, {sup 238}U and {sup 232}Th fission counters, {sup 7}LiF and {sup nat}LiF TLDs and solid state nuclear track detector, are numerically provided in this report in the energy region between 10{sup -4} eV and the energy of peak neutrons generated by the {sup 7}Li(p,n) reaction. (author).

Neutron transportation simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uenohara, Yuzo.

1995-01-01

In the present invention, problems in an existent parallelized monte carlo method is solved, and behaviors of neutrons in a large scaled system are accurately simulated at a high speed. Namely, a neutron transportation simulator according to the monte carlo method simulates movement of each of neutrons by using a parallel computer. In this case, the system to be processed is divided based on a space region and an energy region to which neutrons belong. Simulation of neutrons in the divided regions is allotted to each of performing devices of the parallel computer. Tarry data and nuclear data of the neutrons in each of the regions are memorized dispersedly to memories of each of the performing devices. A transmission means for simulating the behaviors of the neutrons in the region by each of the performing devices, as well as transmitting the information of the neutrons, when the neutrons are moved to other region, to the performing device in a transported portion are disposed to each of the performing devices. With such procedures, simulation for the neutrons in the allotted region can be conducted with small capacity of memories. (I.S.)

Neutron stochastic transport theory with delayed neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munoz-Cobo, J.L.; Verdu, G.

1987-01-01

From the stochastic transport theory with delayed neutrons, the Boltzmann transport equation with delayed neutrons for the average flux emerges in a natural way without recourse to any approximation. From this theory a general expression is obtained for the Feynman Y-function when delayed neutrons are included. The single mode approximation for the particular case of a subcritical assembly is developed, and it is shown that Y-function reduces to the familiar expression quoted in many books, when delayed neutrons are not considered, and spatial and source effects are not included. (author)

Utilization of low voltage D-T neutron generators in neutron physics studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singkarat, S.

1995-01-01

In a small nuclear laboratory of a developing country a low voltage D-T neutron generator can be a very useful scientific apparatus. Such machines have been used successfully for more than 40 years in teaching and scientific research. The original continuous mode 150-kV D-T neutron generator has been modified to have also a capability of producing 2-ns pulsed neutrons. Together with a carefully designed 10 m long flight path collimator and shielding of a 25 cm diameter · 10 cm thick BC-501 neutron detector, the pulsing system was successfully used for measuring the double differential cross-section (DDX) of natural iron for 14.1-MeV neutron from the angle of 30 deg to 150 deg in 10 deg steps. In order to extend the utility of the generator, two methods for converting the almost monoenergetic 14-MeV neutrons to monoenergetic neutrons of lower energy were proposed and tested. Both designs used the neutron-proton interaction at a circular surface-of-revolution made of hydrocarbon materials. The first design is for a pulsed neutron generator and the second design is for an ordinary continuous mode generator. The latter method was successfully used to measure the scintillation light output of a 1.4 cm diameter spherical NE-213 scintillation detector. The neutron generator has also been used in the continuous search for improved neutron detection techniques. There is a proposal, based on Monte Carlo calculations, of using a scintillation fiber for a fast neutron spectrometer. Due to the slender shape of the fiber, the pattern of produced light gives a peak in the pulse height spectrum instead of the well-known rectangular-like distribution, when the fiber is bombarded end-on by a beam of 14-MeV neutrons. Experimental investigations were undertaken. Detailed investigations on the light transportation property of a short fiber were performed. The predicted peak has not yet been found but the fiber detector may be developed as a directional discrimination fast neutron

Utilization of low voltage D-T neutron generators in neutron physics studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singkarat, S.

1995-08-01

In a small nuclear laboratory of a developing country a low voltage D-T neutron generator can be a very useful scientific apparatus. Such machines have been used successfully for more than 40 years in teaching and scientific research. The original continuous mode 150-kV D-T neutron generator has been modified to have also a capability of producing 2-ns pulsed neutrons. Together with a carefully designed 10 m long flight path collimator and shielding of a 25 cm diameter {center_dot} 10 cm thick BC-501 neutron detector, the pulsing system was successfully used for measuring the double differential cross-section (DDX) of natural iron for 14.1-MeV neutron from the angle of 30 deg to 150 deg in 10 deg steps. In order to extend the utility of the generator, two methods for converting the almost monoenergetic 14-MeV neutrons to monoenergetic neutrons of lower energy were proposed and tested. The first method uses a pulsed neutron generator and the second method uses an ordinary continuous mode generator. The latter method was successfully used to measure the scintillation light output of a 1.4 cm diameter spherical NE-213 scintillation detector. The neutron generator has also been used in the continuous search for improved neutron detection techniques. There is a proposal, based on Monte Carlo calculations, of using a scintillation fiber for a fast neutron spectrometer. Due to the slender shape of the fiber, the pattern of produced light gives a peak in the pulse height spectrum instead of the well-known rectangular-like distribution, when the fiber is bombarded end-on by a beam of 14-MeV neutrons. Experimental investigations were undertaken. Detailed investigations on the light transportation property of a short fiber were performed. The predicted peak has not yet been found but the fiber detector may be developed as a directional discrimination fast neutron detector. 18 refs.

An introduction to neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiesenfeld, Bernard

2015-01-01

Neutron transport science is the study of neutron transport in a nuclear reactor and of associated nuclear reactions, notably fission reactions. Heat released by these reactions can be used for several purposes: electricity production, hydrogen production, sea water desalination, urban heating, naval propulsion, space propulsion, and so on. This publication contains the course proposed at Mines ParisTech and at the Arts et Metiers ParisTech. It is an introduction to neutron transport science and aims at presenting fundamental physical principles of this original branch of nuclear physics, a so called 'low energies' branch whereas 'high energy' nuclear physics focuses on elementary particles. It addresses complex computation methods which have been developed during the last decades with computation codes of always higher performance. The first part presents elements of atom physics: origin of matter, properties of nuclei and atoms, notion of quantum mechanics, interaction between radiation and matter (ray absorption, Compton Effect and scattering, photoelectric effect). The second part introduces neutron transport by addressing the following issues: nuclear structure, the various aspects of the interaction between neutrons and matter, the evolution of the reactivity of a reactor in normal operation, the chain fission reaction kinetics, and neutron slowing down. The third part addresses various aspects of neutron transport calculation: expression of neutron assessment, scattering approximation, critical condition of a nuclear reactor, introduction to transport theory, peculiarities of fast breeder reactors. The last chapter 'from theory to practice' addresses the approach of the neutron scientist, proposes an overview of the main calculation codes, and presents fields of application (within or without nuclear fission)

Microdosimetry of monoenergetic neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srdoc, D.; Marino, S.A.

1993-01-01

Tissue spheres 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 μm in diameter were simulated using a wall-less spherical counter filled with a propane-based tissue-equivalent gas. Microdosimetric spectra corresponding to these site sizes were measured for five neutron energies (0.22, 0.44, 1.5, 6, and 14 MeV) and the related mean values bar Y F and bar Y D were calculated for several site sizes and neutron energies. An elaborate calibration technique combining soft x-rays, a 55 Fe photon source, and a 244 Cm collimated source of alpha particles was used throughout the measurement. The spectra and their mean values are compared with theoretically calculated values for ICRU tissue. The agreement between the calculated and the measured data is good in spite of a systematic discrepancy, which could be attributed, in part, to the difference in elemental composition between the tissue-equivalent gas and plastic used in the counter, and the ICRU standard tissue used in the calculations

Neutron energy measurement for practical applications

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

M V Roshan

2018-02-07

. Elastic scattering of monoenergetic α-particles from neutron collision enables neutron energy measurement by calculating the amount of deviation from the position where collision takes place. The neutron numbers with ...

Characteristics of the quarry as shielding for {sup 241}AmBe neutrons and monoenergetic photons; Caracteristicas de la cantera como blindaje para los neutrones del {sup 241}AmBe y fotones monoenergeticos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vega C, H. R.; Hernandez D, V. M.; Letechipia de L, C.; Salas L, M. A. [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Estudios Nucleares, Cipres No. 10, Fracc. La Penuela, 98068 Zacatecas, Zac. (Mexico); Rodriguez R, J. A.; Juarez A, C. A., E-mail: fermineutron@yahoo.com [Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Ingenieria Civil, Pedro de Alba s/n, San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon (Mexico)

2016-09-15

Shielding is an important element in radiation protection since allows the management of radiation sources. Currently there are different materials of natural or anthropogenic origin that are used as shielding for both photons and neutrons. The quarry is a material of natural origin and abundant in our country, which is used in construction or for the manufacture of sculptures, however its characteristics as shielding have not been reported. In this paper we report some of the properties of the quarry as shielding for monoenergetic photons and for neutrons produced by an isotopic neutron source of {sup 241}AmBe. A quarry piece was used to determine its density and its chemical composition, with the XCOM code the elemental composition was determined and the mass interaction and total attenuation coefficients of the quarry were determined with photons of 10{sup -3} to 10{sup -5} MeV; the interaction coefficients included coherent dispersion, photoelectric absorption, Compton dispersion and the production of pairs in the nuclear and electronic field. Using the MCNP5 code, a narrow geometry attenuation experiment was modeled and the photon fluence was estimated that reaches a point detector at a distance of 42 cm from a point source, isotropic and monoenergetic photon when the source and the point detector were added quarry pieces of different thicknesses. The reduction of the number of photons as a function of the thickness of the quarry was used to determine the coefficient of linear attenuation of the quarry before photons of 0.03, 0.07, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 2 and 3 MeV that were the same as those calculated with the XCOM code. With the MCNP, the K a and H(10) transmission curves were also calculated. This same model was used to determined the variation of the {sup 241}AmBe neutron spectrum as a function of quarry thickness, as well as the E{sub ROT} and H(10) transmission curves. (Author)

Applicability of the two-angle differential method to response measurement of neutron-sensitive devices at the RCNP high-energy neutron facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Masuda, Akihiko, E-mail: aki-masuda@aist.go.jp [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); Matsumoto, Tetsuro [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); Iwamoto, Yosuke [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Hagiwara, Masayuki [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Satoh, Daiki; Sato, Tatsuhiko [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Iwase, Hiroshi [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Yashima, Hiroshi [Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, 2-1010 Asashiro-nishi, Kumatori, Sennan, Osaka 590-0494 (Japan); Nakane, Yoshihiro [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Nishiyama, Jun [Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8550 (Japan); Shima, Tatsushi; Tamii, Atsushi; Hatanaka, Kichiji [Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University, 10-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047 (Japan); Harano, Hideki [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); Nakamura, Takashi [Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center (CYRIC), Tohoku University, 6-3 Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578 (Japan)

2017-03-21

Quasi-monoenergetic high-energy neutron fields induced by {sup 7}Li(p,n) reactions are used for the response evaluation of neutron-sensitive devices. The quasi-monoenergetic high-energy field consists of high-energy monoenergetic peak neutrons and unwanted continuum neutrons down to the low-energy region. A two-angle differential method has been developed to compensate for the effect of the continuum neutrons in the response measurements. In this study, the two-angle differential method was demonstrated for Bonner sphere detectors, which are typical examples of moderator-based neutron-sensitive detectors, to investigate the method's applicability and its dependence on detector characteristics. Experiments were performed under 96–387 MeV quasi-monoenergetic high-energy neutron fields at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University. The measurement results for large high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sphere detectors agreed well with Monte Carlo calculations, which verified the adequacy of the two-angle differential method. By contrast, discrepancies were observed in the results for small HDPE sphere detectors and metal-induced sphere detectors. The former indicated that detectors that are particularly sensitive to low-energy neutrons may be affected by penetrating neutrons owing to the geometrical features of the RCNP facility. The latter discrepancy could be consistently explained by a problem in the evaluated cross-section data for the metals used in the calculation. Through those discussions, the adequacy of the two-angle differential method was experimentally verified, and practical suggestions were made pertaining to this method.

Neutronic analysis of fusion tokamak devices by PHITS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sukegawa, Atsuhiko M.; Takiyoshi, Kouji; Amano, Toshio; Kawasaki, Hiromitsu; Okuno, Koichi

2011-01-01

A complete 3D neutronic analysis by PHITS (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System) has been performed for fusion tokamak devices such as JT-60U device and JT-60 Superconducting tokamak device (JT-60 Super Advanced). The mono-energetic neutrons (E n =2.45 MeV) of the DD fusion devices are used for the neutron source in the analysis. The visual neutron flux distribution for the estimation of the port streaming and the dose rate around the fusion tokamak devices has been calculated by the PHITS. The PHITS analysis makes it clear that the effect of the port streaming of superconducting fusion tokamak device with the cryostat is crucial and the calculated neutron spectrum results by PHITS agree with the MCNP-4C2 results. (author)

Monte Carlo simulation of neutron transport phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srinivasan, P.

2009-01-01

Neutron transport is one of the central problems in nuclear reactor related studies and other applied sciences. Some of the major applications of neutron transport include nuclear reactor design and safety, criticality safety of fissile material handling, neutron detector design and development, nuclear medicine, assessment of radiation damage to materials, nuclear well logging, forensic analysis etc. Most reactor and dosimetry studies assume that neutrons diffuse from regions of high to low density just like gaseous molecules diffuse to regions of low concentration or heat flow from high to low temperature regions. However while treatment of gaseous or heat diffusion is quite accurately modeled, treatment of neutron transport as simple diffusion is quite limited. In simple diffusion, the neutron trajectories are irregular, random and zigzag - where as in neutron transport low reaction cross sections (1 barn- 10 -24 cm 2 ) lead to long mean free paths which again depend on the nature and irregularities of the medium. Hence a more accurate representation of the neutron transport evolved based on the Boltzmann equation of kinetic gas theory. In fact the neutron transport equation is a linearized version of the Boltzmann gas equation based on neutron conservation with seven independent variables. The transport equation is difficult to solve except in simple cases amenable to numerical methods. The diffusion (equation) approximation follows from removing the angular dependence of the neutron flux

Neutrons production during the interaction of monoenergetic electrons with a thin tungsten target; Produccion de neutrones durante la interaccion de electrones monoenergeticos con un blanco delgado de tungsteno

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soto B, T. G.; Medina C, D. [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Estudios Nucleares, Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Basicas, 98068 Zacatecas, Zac. (Mexico); Baltazar R, A. [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Ingenieria Electrica, Programa de Doctorado en Ingenieria y Tecnologia Aplicada, 98068 Zacatecas, Zac. (Mexico); Vega C, H. R., E-mail: tzinnia.soto@gmail.com [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Estudios Nucleares, Cipres No. 10, Fracc. La Penuela, 98068 Zacatecas, Zac. (Mexico)

2016-10-15

When a linear accelerator for radiotherapy operates with acceleration voltages higher than 8 MV, neutrons are produced, as secondary radiation which deposits an undesirable and undesirable dose in the patient. Depending on the type of tumor, its location in the body and the characteristics of the patient, the cancer treatment with a Linac is performed with photon or electron beams, which produce neutrons through reactions (γ, n) and (e, e n) respectively. Because the effective section for the neutrons production by reactions (γ, n) is approximately two orders of magnitude larger than the effective section of the reactions (e, e n), studies on the effects of this secondary radiation have focused on photo neutrons. en a Linac operates with electron beams, the beam coming out of the magnetic deflector is impinged on the dispersion lamella in order to cause quasi-elastic interactions and to expand the spatial distribution of the electrons; the objective of this work is to determine the characteristics of the photons and neutrons that occur when a mono-energetic electron beam of 2 mm in diameter (pencil beam) is made to impinge on a tungsten lamella of 1 cm in diameter and 0.5 mm of thickness. The study was done using Monte Carlo methods with code MCNP6 for electron beams of 8, 10, 12, 15 and 18 MeV. The spectra of photons and neutrons were estimated in 4 point detectors placed at different equidistant points from the center of the lamella. (Author)

Development of a new deuterium-deuterium (D-D) neutron generator for prompt gamma-ray neutron activation analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergaoui, K; Reguigui, N; Gary, C K; Brown, C; Cremer, J T; Vainionpaa, J H; Piestrup, M A

2014-12-01

A new deuterium-deuterium (D-D) neutron generator has been developed by Adelphi Technology for prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA), neutron activation analysis (NAA), and fast neutron radiography. The generator makes an excellent fast, intermediate, and thermal neutron source for laboratories and industrial applications that require the safe production of neutrons, a small footprint, low cost, and small regulatory burden. The generator has three major components: a Radio Frequency Induction Ion Source, a Secondary Electron Shroud, and a Diode Accelerator Structure and Target. Monoenergetic neutrons (2.5MeV) are produced with a yield of 10(10)n/s using 25-50mA of deuterium ion beam current and 125kV of acceleration voltage. The present study characterizes the performance of the neutron generator with respect to neutron yield, neutron production efficiency, and the ionic current as a function of the acceleration voltage at various RF powers. In addition the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport (MCNP) simulation code was used to optimize the setup with respect to thermal flux and radiation protection. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Narrow beam neutron dosimetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferenci, M Sutton

2004-01-01

Organ and effective doses have been estimated for male and female anthropomorphic mathematical models exposed to monoenergetic narrow beams of neutrons with energies from 10(-11) to 1000 MeV. Calculations were performed for anterior-posterior, posterior-anterior, left-lateral and right-lateral irradiation geometries. The beam diameter used in the calculations was 7.62 cm and the phantoms were irradiated at a height of 1 m above the ground. This geometry was chosen to simulate an accidental scenario (a worker walking through the beam) at Flight Path 30 Left (FP30L) of the Weapons Neutron Research (WNR) Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The calculations were carried out using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNPX 2.5c.

Sources of polarized neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walter, L.

1983-01-01

Various sources of polarized neutrons are reviewed. Monoenergetic source produced with unpolarized or polarized beams, white sources of polarized neutrons, production by transmissions through polarized hydrogen targets and polarized thermal neutronsare discussed, with appropriate applications included. (U.K.)

Neutron transport equation - indications on homogenization and neutron diffusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Argaud, J.P.

1992-06-01

In PWR nuclear reactor, the practical study of the neutrons in the core uses diffusion equation to describe the problem. On the other hand, the most correct method to describe these neutrons is to use the Boltzmann equation, or neutron transport equation. In this paper, we give some theoretical indications to obtain a diffusion equation from the general transport equation, with some simplifying hypothesis. The work is organised as follows: (a) the most general formulations of the transport equation are presented: integro-differential equation and integral equation; (b) the theoretical approximation of this Boltzmann equation by a diffusion equation is introduced, by the way of asymptotic developments; (c) practical homogenization methods of transport equation is then presented. In particular, the relationships with some general and useful methods in neutronic are shown, and some homogenization methods in energy and space are indicated. A lot of other points of view or complements are detailed in the text or the remarks

Measurement of neutron energy spectra for Eg=23.1 and 26.6 MeV mono-energetic photon induced reaction on natC using laser electron photon beam at NewSUBARU

Science.gov (United States)

Itoga, Toshiro; Nakashima, Hiroshi; Sanami, Toshiya; Namito, Yoshihito; Kirihara, Yoichi; Miyamoto, Shuji; Takemoto, Akinori; Yamaguchi, Masashi; Asano, Yoshihiro

2017-09-01

Photo-neutron energy spectra for Eg=23.1 and 26.6 MeV mono-energetic photons on natC were measured using laser Compton scattering facility at NewSUBARU BL01. The photon energy spectra were evaluated through measurements and simulations with collimator sizes and arrangements for the laser electron photon. The neutron energy spectra for the natC(g,xn) reaction were measured at 60 degrees in horizontal and 90 degrees in horizontal and vertical with respect to incident photon. The spectra show almost isotropic angular distribution and flat energy distribution from detection threshold to upper limit defined by reaction Q-value.

Broad Energy Range Neutron Spectroscopy using a Liquid Scintillator and a Proportional Counter: Application to a Neutron Spectrum Similar to that from an Improvised Nuclear Device.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yanping; Randers-Pehrson, Gerhard; Marino, Stephen A; Garty, Guy; Harken, Andrew; Brenner, David J

2015-09-11

A novel neutron irradiation facility at the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) has been developed to mimic the neutron radiation from an Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) at relevant distances (e.g. 1.5 km) from the epicenter. The neutron spectrum of this IND-like neutron irradiator was designed according to estimations of the Hiroshima neutron spectrum at 1.5 km. It is significantly different from a standard reactor fission spectrum, because the spectrum changes as the neutrons are transported through air, and it is dominated by neutron energies from 100 keV up to 9 MeV. To verify such wide energy range neutron spectrum, detailed here is the development of a combined spectroscopy system. Both a liquid scintillator detector and a gas proportional counter were used for the recoil spectra measurements, with the individual response functions estimated from a series of Monte Carlo simulations. These normalized individual response functions were formed into a single response matrix for the unfolding process. Several accelerator-based quasi-monoenergetic neutron source spectra were measured and unfolded to test this spectroscopy system. These reference neutrons were produced from two reactions: T(p,n) 3 He and D(d,n) 3 He, generating neutron energies in the range between 0.2 and 8 MeV. The unfolded quasi-monoenergetic neutron spectra indicated that the detection system can provide good neutron spectroscopy results in this energy range. A broad-energy neutron spectrum from the 9 Be(d,n) reaction using a 5 MeV deuteron beam, measured at 60 degrees to the incident beam was measured and unfolded with the evaluated response matrix. The unfolded broad neutron spectrum is comparable with published time-of-flight results. Finally, the pair of detectors were used to measure the neutron spectrum generated at the RARAF IND-like neutron facility and a comparison is made to the neutron spectrum of Hiroshima.

Properties of neutron sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-03-01

The Conference presentations were divided into sessions devoted to the following topics: white neutron sources, primarily pulsed (6 papers); fast neutron fields (5 papers); Californium-252 prompt fission neutron spectra (14 papers); monoenergetic sources and filtered beams (11 papers); 14 MeV neutron sources (10 papers); selected special application (one paper); and a general interest session (4 papers). Individual abstracts were prepared separately for the papers

Measurement of neutron energy spectra for Eg=23.1 and 26.6 MeV mono-energetic photon induced reaction on natC using laser electron photon beam at NewSUBARU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itoga Toshiro

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Photo-neutron energy spectra for Eg=23.1 and 26.6 MeV mono-energetic photons on natC were measured using laser Compton scattering facility at NewSUBARU BL01. The photon energy spectra were evaluated through measurements and simulations with collimator sizes and arrangements for the laser electron photon. The neutron energy spectra for the natC(g,xn reaction were measured at 60 degrees in horizontal and 90 degrees in horizontal and vertical with respect to incident photon. The spectra show almost isotropic angular distribution and flat energy distribution from detection threshold to upper limit defined by reaction Q-value.

3-D neutron transport benchmarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, T.; Ikeda, H.

1991-03-01

A set of 3-D neutron transport benchmark problems proposed by the Osaka University to NEACRP in 1988 has been calculated by many participants and the corresponding results are summarized in this report. The results of K eff , control rod worth and region-averaged fluxes for the four proposed core models, calculated by using various 3-D transport codes are compared and discussed. The calculational methods used were: Monte Carlo, Discrete Ordinates (Sn), Spherical Harmonics (Pn), Nodal Transport and others. The solutions of the four core models are quite useful as benchmarks for checking the validity of 3-D neutron transport codes

Neutron-induced fission cross-section measurement of 234U with quasi-monoenergetic beams in the keV and MeV range using micromegas detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Tsinganis, A.; Kokkoris, M.; Vlastou, R.; Kalamara, A.; Stamatopoulos, A.; Kanellakopoulos, A.; Lagoyannis, A.; Axiotis, M.

2017-09-01

Accurate data on neutron-induced fission cross-sections of actinides are essential for the design of advanced nuclear reactors based either on fast neutron spectra or alternative fuel cycles, as well as for the reduction of safety margins of existing and future conventional facilities. The fission cross-section of 234U was measured at incident neutron energies of 560 and 660 keV and 7.5 MeV with a setup based on `microbulk' Micromegas detectors and the same samples previously used for the measurement performed at the CERN n_TOF facility (Karadimos et al., 2014). The 235U fission cross-section was used as reference. The (quasi-)monoenergetic neutron beams were produced via the 7Li(p,n) and the 2H(d,n) reactions at the neutron beam facility of the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics at the `Demokritos' National Centre for Scientific Research. A detailed study of the neutron spectra produced in the targets and intercepted by the samples was performed coupling the NeuSDesc and MCNPX codes, taking into account the energy spread, energy loss and angular straggling of the beam ions in the target assemblies, as well as contributions from competing reactions and neutron scattering in the experimental setup. Auxiliary Monte-Carlo simulations were performed with the FLUKA code to study the behaviour of the detectors, focusing particularly on the reproduction of the pulse height spectra of α-particles and fission fragments (using distributions produced with the GEF code) for the evaluation of the detector efficiency. An overview of the developed methodology and preliminary results are presented.

Measurement of double differential cross sections of secondary neutrons in the incident energy range 9-13 MeV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Hongqing; Qi Bujia; Zhou Zuying; Sa Jun; Ke Zunjian; Sui Qingchang; Xia Haihong; Shen Guanren

1992-01-01

The status and technique of double differential cross section measurement of secondary neutrons in the incident neutron energy range 9 to 13 MeV is reviewed with emphasis on the work done at CIAE. There are scarce measurements of secondary neutron double differential cross sections in this energy region up to now. A main difficulty for this is lack of an applicable monoenergetic neutron source. When monoenergetic neutron energy reaches 8 Me/v, the break-up neutrons from the d + D or p + T reaction starts to become significant. It is difficult to get a pure secondary neutron spectrum induced only by monoenergetic neutrons. To solve this problem an abnormal fast neutron TOF facility was designed and tested. Double differential neutron emission cross sections of 238 U and 209 Bi at 10 MeV were obtained by combining the data measured by both normal and abnormal TOF spectrometers and a good agreement between measurement and calculation was achieved

Generation of organic scintillators response function for fast neutrons using the Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazzaro, A.C.

1979-01-01

A computer program (DALP) in Fortran-4-G language, has been developed using the Monte Carlo method to simulate the experimental techniques leading to the distribution of pulse heights due to monoenergetic neutrons reaching an organic scintillator. The calculation of the pulse height distribution has been done for two different systems: 1) Monoenergetic neutrons from a punctual source reaching the flat face of a cylindrical organic scintillator; 2) Environmental monoenergetic neutrons randomly reaching either the flat or curved face of the cylindrical organic scintillator. The computer program has been developed in order to be applied to the NE-213 liquid organic scintillator, but can be easily adapted to any other kind of organic scintillator. With this program one can determine the pulse height distribution for neutron energies ranging from 15 KeV to 10 MeV. (Author) [pt

Fusion neutron detector calibration using a table-top laser generated plasma neutron source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartke, R.; Symes, D.R.; Buersgens, F.; Ruggles, L.E.; Porter, J.L.; Ditmire, T.

2005-01-01

Using a high intensity, femtosecond laser driven neutron source, a high-sensitivity neutron detector was calibrated. This detector is designed for observing fusion neutrons at the Z accelerator in Sandia National Laboratories. Nuclear fusion from laser driven deuterium cluster explosions was used to generate a clean source of nearly monoenergetic 2.45 MeV neutrons at a well-defined time. This source can run at 10 Hz and was used to build up a clean pulse-height spectrum on scintillating neutron detectors giving a very accurate calibration for neutron yields at 2.45 MeV

Neutron-induced peaks in Ge detectors from evaporation neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gete, E.; Measday, D.F.; Moftah, B.A.; Saliba, M.A.; Stocki, T.J.

1997-01-01

We have studied the peak shapes at 596 and 691 keV resulting from fast neutron interactions inside germanium detectors. We have used neutrons from a 252 Cf source, as well as from the 28 Si(μ - , nν), and 209 Bi(π - , xn) reactions to compare the peaks and to check for a dependence of peak shape on the incoming neutron energy. In our investigation, no difference between these three measurements has been observed. In a comparison of these peak shapes with other studies, we found similar results to ours except for those measurements using monoenergetic neutrons in which a significant variation with neutron energy has been observed. (orig.)

Neutron energy spectrum in graphite blankets of fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsechanski, A.

1981-09-01

Neutron flux measurements were performed in a graphite stack and compared with calculations made with a two dimensional transport computer code. In the present work it is observed that the calculated spectrum in the elastic and inelastic scattering ranges (the first collision range in both cases), is sensitive to details of the angular distribution of these neutrons. Regarding the discrepancies in the elastic scattering range it is concluded that the microscopic cross section library ENDF/B-IV overestimates the large angle scattering (back scattering) as can be seen from comparison of measured and calculated spectra. The two most important conclusions of the present work are: 1. Inelastic scattering interaction of D-T neutrons in graphite cannot be calculated without a proper account of energy-angle correlation. 2. An experimental setup supplying monoenergetic collimated D-T neutrons constitutes a sensitive although indirect means for measuring angular distributions in inelastic and elastic scattering

Exact solution of the neutron transport equation in spherical geometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anli, Fikret; Akkurt, Abdullah; Yildirim, Hueseyin; Ates, Kemal [Kahramanmaras Suetcue Imam Univ. (Turkey). Faculty of Sciences and Letters

2017-03-15

Solution of the neutron transport equation in one dimensional slab geometry construct a basis for the solution of neutron transport equation in a curvilinear geometry. Therefore, in this work, we attempt to derive an exact analytical benchmark solution for both neutron transport equations in slab and spherical medium by using P{sub N} approximation which is widely used in neutron transport theory.

Calibration and Monte Carlo modelling of neutron long counters

CERN Document Server

Tagziria, H

2000-01-01

The Monte Carlo technique has become a very powerful tool in radiation transport as full advantage is taken of enhanced cross-section data, more powerful computers and statistical techniques, together with better characterisation of neutron and photon source spectra. At the National Physical Laboratory, calculations using the Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNP-4B have been combined with accurate measurements to characterise two long counters routinely used to standardise monoenergetic neutron fields. New and more accurate response function curves have been produced for both long counters. A novel approach using Monte Carlo methods has been developed, validated and used to model the response function of the counters and determine more accurately their effective centres, which have always been difficult to establish experimentally. Calculations and measurements agree well, especially for the De Pangher long counter for which details of the design and constructional material are well known. The sensitivit...

Development of a medium energy polarized neutron facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burzynski, S.; Gysin, C.; Henneck, R.; Jourdan, J.; Kohler, D.; Pickar, M.A.; Plattner, G.R.; Sick, I.; Berdoz, A.; Foroughi, F.; Nussbaum, Ch.; Stammbach, Th.

1984-01-01

By the end of 1983 the major construction work for the new polarized neutron source was completed. The source will provide an essentially monoenergetic beam of both polarized and unpolarized neutrons in the energy range from 20 MeV to 70 MeV. Intensities are expected to be approx. 2 x 10 5 neutrons/s.cm 2 per μA of incident proton beam. The polarization is expected to be approx. 0.2 and can be chosen to be either longitudinal or transverse. Protons from the Philips injector cyclotron are focussed onto a liquid deuterium target and produce neutrons via the 2 H(p,n)2p reaction at 0 0 . This process provides essentially monoenergetic neutrons of almost the same energy as the incoming protons. The zero production angle implies that the neutron polarization comes from the polarization of the proton beam only. This allows an easy and fast change of the neutron spin direction by selecting proton spin states in the polarized ion source (atomic beam type). (Auth.)

A random walk approach to stochastic neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mulatier, Clelia de

2015-01-01

One of the key goals of nuclear reactor physics is to determine the distribution of the neutron population within a reactor core. This population indeed fluctuates due to the stochastic nature of the interactions of the neutrons with the nuclei of the surrounding medium: scattering, emission of neutrons from fission events and capture by nuclear absorption. Due to these physical mechanisms, the stochastic process performed by neutrons is a branching random walk. For most applications, the neutron population considered is very large, and all physical observables related to its behaviour, such as the heat production due to fissions, are well characterised by their average values. Generally, these mean quantities are governed by the classical neutron transport equation, called linear Boltzmann equation. During my PhD, using tools from branching random walks and anomalous diffusion, I have tackled two aspects of neutron transport that cannot be approached by the linear Boltzmann equation. First, thanks to the Feynman-Kac backward formalism, I have characterised the phenomenon of 'neutron clustering' that has been highlighted for low-density configuration of neutrons and results from strong fluctuations in space and time of the neutron population. Then, I focused on several properties of anomalous (non-exponential) transport, that can model neutron transport in strongly heterogeneous and disordered media, such as pebble-bed reactors. One of the novel aspects of this work is that problems are treated in the presence of boundaries. Indeed, even though real systems are finite (confined geometries), most of previously existing results were obtained for infinite systems. (author) [fr

Monoenergetic particle transport in a semi-infinite medium with reflection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.

1993-01-01

Next to neutron or photon transport in infinite geometry, particle transport in semi-infinite geometry is probably the most investigated transport problem. When the mean free path for particle interaction is small compared to the physical dimension of the scattering medium, the infinite or semi-infinite geometry assumption is reasonable for a variety of applications. These include nondestructive testing, photon transport in plant canopies, and inverse problems associated with well logging. Another important application of the transport solution in a semi-infinite medium is as a benchmark to which other more approximate methods can be compared. In this paper, the transport solution in a semi-infinite medium with both diffuse and specular reflection at the free surface is solved analytically and numerically evaluated. The approach is based on a little-known solution obtained by Sobelev for the problem with specular reflection, which itself originates from the classical albedo problem solution without reflection. Using Sobelev's solution as a partial Green's function, the exiting flux for diffuse reflection can be obtained. In this way, the exiting flux for a half-space with both constant diffuse and specular reflection coefficients is obtained for the first time. This expression can then be extended to the complex plane to obtain the interior flux as an inverse Laplace transform, which is numerically evaluated

Prediction of in-phantom dose distribution using in-air neutron beam characteristics for BNCS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verbeke, Jerome M.

1999-01-01

A monoenergetic neutron beam simulation study is carried out to determine the optimal neutron energy range for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis using radiation synovectomy. The goal of the treatment is the ablation of diseased synovial membranes in joints, such as knees and fingers. This study focuses on human knee joints. Two figures-of-merit are used to measure the neutron beam quality, the ratio of the synovium absorbed dose to the skin absorbed dose, and the ratio of the synovium absorbed dose to the bone absorbed dose. It was found that (a) thermal neutron beams are optimal for treatment, (b) similar absorbed dose rates and therapeutic ratios are obtained with monodirectional and isotropic neutron beams. Computation of the dose distribution in a human knee requires the simulation of particle transport from the neutron source to the knee phantom through the moderator. A method was developed to predict the dose distribution in a knee phantom from any neutron and photon beam spectra incident on the knee. This method was revealed to be reasonably accurate and enabled one to reduce by a factor of 10 the particle transport simulation time by modeling the moderator only

Prediction of in-phantom dose distribution using in-air neutron beam characteristics for BNCS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verbeke, Jerome M.

1999-12-14

A monoenergetic neutron beam simulation study is carried out to determine the optimal neutron energy range for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis using radiation synovectomy. The goal of the treatment is the ablation of diseased synovial membranes in joints, such as knees and fingers. This study focuses on human knee joints. Two figures-of-merit are used to measure the neutron beam quality, the ratio of the synovium absorbed dose to the skin absorbed dose, and the ratio of the synovium absorbed dose to the bone absorbed dose. It was found that (a) thermal neutron beams are optimal for treatment, (b) similar absorbed dose rates and therapeutic ratios are obtained with monodirectional and isotropic neutron beams. Computation of the dose distribution in a human knee requires the simulation of particle transport from the neutron source to the knee phantom through the moderator. A method was developed to predict the dose distribution in a knee phantom from any neutron and photon beam spectra incident on the knee. This method was revealed to be reasonably accurate and enabled one to reduce by a factor of 10 the particle transport simulation time by modeling the moderator only.

Neutron diffusion: connection with the theory of browniam motion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dellagi, Mohamed

1977-01-01

The displacement of the neutron projection on an axis Ox and its density of probability are introduced instead of describing the diffusion theory with neutron density, as is usual. If the point source O is isotropic and neutron monoenergetic, the brownian particle described by Langevin's equation and neutron have the same time correlation of velocity [fr

Some improved methods in neutron transport theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pop-Jordanov, J; Stefanovic, D; Kocic, A; Matausek, M; Bosevski, T [Boris Kidric Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, Beograd (Yugoslavia)

1973-07-01

The methods described in this paper are: analytical approach to neutron spectra in case of energy dependent anisotropy of elastic scattering; Monte Carlo estimations of neutron absorption reaction rate during slowing down process; spherical harmonics treatment of space-angle-lethargy dependent slowing down transport equation; integral transport theory based on point-wise representation of variables.

Neutron energy measurement for practical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Roshan, M. V.; Sadeghi, H.; Ghasabian, M.; Mazandarani, A.

2018-03-01

Industrial demand for neutrons constrains careful energy measurements. Elastic scattering of monoenergetic α -particles from neutron collision enables neutron energy measurement by calculating the amount of deviation from the position where collision takes place. The neutron numbers with specific energy is obtained by counting the number of α -particles in the corresponding location on the charged particle detector. Monte Carlo simulation and COMSOL Multiphysics5.2 are used to account for one-to-one collision of neutrons with α -particles.

LOCFES-B: A program for solving the one-dimensional particle transport equation with user-selected CLOF methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarvis, R.D.; Nelson, P.

1995-01-01

LOCFES-B solves the steady-state, monoenergetic and azimuthally symmetric neutral-particle transport equation in one-dimensional plane-parallel geometry. LOCFES-B is designed to facilitate testing and comparison of different spatial approximations in neutron transport. Accordingly, it permits performance of user-provided CLOF spatial approximations to be compared directly on successively refined mesh sizes and user-input physical problems with automatic comparison of results. if desired, to user-supplied benchmark results

Cosmic-ray neutron transport at a forest field site

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Mie; Jensen, Karsten Høgh; Desilets, Darin

2017-01-01

-ray neutron intensity is essential (e.g., the effect of vegetation, litter layer and soil type). In this study the environmental effect is examined by performing a sensitivity analysis using neutron transport modeling. We use a neutron transport model with various representations of the forest and different...

Measurement of activation cross sections of the {sup 27}Al(n,α){sup 24}Na and {sup 27}Al(n,p){sup 27}Mg reactions with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zaman, Muhammad; Kim, Guinyun; Kim, Kwangsoo [Kyungpook National Univ., Daegu (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Physics; Naik, Haladhara [Kyungpook National Univ., Daegu (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Physics; Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India). Radiochemistry Div.; Lee, Young-Ouk; Cho, Young-Sik [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of). Nuclear Data Center; Lee, Man Woo; Kang, Yeong-Rok [Dongnam Institute of Radiological and Medical Science, Busan (Korea, Republic of). Research Center

2017-10-01

The cross sections of the {sup 27}Al(n,α){sup 24}Na and {sup 27}Al(n,p){sup 27}Mg reactions with the average neutron energies of 15.2, 26.4, and 37.2 MeV were measured using the activation and off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique at the Korean Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Korea. Quasi-monoenergetic neutrons produced via the {sup 9}Be(p,n) reaction with the proton beam energies of 25, 35, and 45 MeV from the MC50 cyclotron of KIRAMS were used. The present measured values were compared with those from the evaluated nuclear data libraries ENDF/B-VII, TENDL-2015, TALYS 1.8, and from literature. In general, a close agreement with the literature data as well as the evaluated data was found.

Study of a transportable neutron radiography system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, S.N.A. de.

1991-05-01

This work presents a study a transportable neutron radiography system for a 185 GBq 241 Am-Be (α, η) source with a neutron yield roughly 1,25 x 10 7 n/s. Studies about moderation, collimation and shielding are showed. In these studies, a calculation using Transport Theory was carried out by means of transport codes ANISN and DOT (3.5). Objectives were: to obtain a maximum and more homogeneous thermal neutron flux in the collimator outlet to the image plain, and an adequate radiation shielding to attend radiological protection rules. With the presented collimator, it was possible to obtain for the thermal neutron flux, at the collimator outlet and next to the image plain, a L/D ratio of 14, for neutron fluxes up to 4,09 x 10 2 n.cm -2 .s -1 . Considering the low intensity of the source, it is a good value. Studies have also been carried out for L/D ratios of 22 and 30, giving thermal neutron fluxes at the image plain of 1,27 x 10 2 n.cm -2 .s -1 and 2,65 x 10 2 n.cm -2 .s -1 , respectively. (author). 30 refs, 39 figs, 9 tabs

Analysis of a shield design for a DT neutron generator test facility.

Science.gov (United States)

Chichester, D L; Pierce, G D

2007-10-01

Independent numerical simulations have been performed using the MCNP5 and SCALE5 radiation transport codes to evaluate the effectiveness of a concrete facility designed to shield personnel from neutron radiation emitted from DT neutron generators. The analysis considered radiation source terms of 14.1 MeV monoenergetic neutrons located at three discrete locations within the two test vaults in the facility, calculating neutron and photon dose rates at 44 locations around the facility using both codes. In addition, dose rate contours were established throughout the facility using the MCNP5 mesh tally feature. Neutron dose rates calculated outside of the facility are predicted to be below 0.01 mrem/h at all locations when all neutron generator source terms are operating within the facility. Similarly, the neutron dose rate in one empty test vault when the adjacent test vault is being utilized is also less then 0.01 mrem/h. For most calculation locations outside the facility the photon dose rates were less then the neutron dose rates by a factor of 10 or more.

New methods in transport theory. Part of a coordinated programme on methods in neutron transport theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefanovic, D.

1975-09-01

The research work of this contract was oriented towards the study of different methods in neutron transport theory. Authors studied analytical solution of the neutron slowing down transport equation and extension of this solution to include the energy dependence of the anisotropy of neutron scattering. Numerical solution of the fast and resonance transport equation for the case of mixture of scatterers including inelastic effects were also reviewed. They improved the existing formalism for treating the scattering of neutrons on water molecules; Identifying modal analysis as the Galerkin method, general conditions for modal technique applications have been investigated. Inverse problems in transport theory were considered. They obtained the evaluation of an advanced level distribution function, made improvement of the standard formalism for treating the inelastic scattering and development of a cluster nuclear model for this evaluation. Authors studied the neutron transport treatment in space energy groups for criticality calculation of a reactor core, and development of the Monte Carlo sampling scheme from the neutron transport equation

Sensitive chemical neutron dosimetry using silver colloids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brede, O.; Boes, J.; Hoesselbarth, B.

1982-01-01

The radiation-induced formation of silver colloid was checked for its use as a sensitive dosimeter for neutron irradiation. For non-monoenergetic pulsed neutron irradiation in the Dubna IBR-30 reactor, the colloid dosimeter was found to be suitable to indicate the chemical neutron effect, i.e., to determine the sum concentration of the primary particles of water radiolysis: esub(aq)sup(-), OH and H. (author)

Measurement of cross sections for the scattering of neutrons in the energy range from 2 MeV to 4 MeV with the 15N(p,n) reaction as neutron source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poenitz, Erik

2010-01-01

In future nuclear facilities, the materials lead and bismuth can play a more important role than in today's nuclear reactors. Reliable cross section data are required for the design of those facilities. In particular the neutron transport in the lead spallation target of an Accelerator-Driven Subcritical Reactor strongly depends on the inelastic neutron scattering cross sections in the energy region from 0.5 MeV to 6 MeV. In the recent 20 years, elastic and inelastic neutron scattering cross sections were measured with high precision for a variety of elements at the PTB time-of-flight spectrometer. The D(d,n) reaction was primarily used for the production of neutrons. Because of the Q value of the reaction and the available deuteron energies, neutrons in the energy range from 6 MeV to 16 MeV can be produced. For the cross section measurement at lower energies, however, another neutron producing reaction is required. The 15 N(p,n) 15 O reaction was chosen, as it allows the production of monoenergetic neutrons with up to 5.7MeV energy. In this work, the 15 N(p,n) reaction was studied with focus on the suitability as a source for monoenergetic neutrons in scattering experiments. This includes the measurement of differential cross sections for the neutron producing reaction and the choice of optimum target conditions. Differential elastic and inelastic neutron scattering cross sections were measured for lead at four energies in the region from 2 MeV to 4 MeV incident neutron energy using the time-of-flight technique. A lead sample with natural isotopic composition was used. NE213 liquid scintillation detectors with well-known detection efficiencies were used for the detection of the scattered neutrons. Angle-integrated cross sections were determined by a Legendre polynomial expansion using least-squares methods. Additionally, measurements were carried out for isotopically pure 209 Bi and 181 Ta samples at 4 MeV incident neutron energy. Results are compared with other

Uncertainty analysis of neutron transport calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oka, Y.; Furuta, K.; Kondo, S.

1987-01-01

A cross section sensitivity-uncertainty analysis code, SUSD was developed. The code calculates sensitivity coefficients for one and two-dimensional transport problems based on the first order perturbation theory. Variance and standard deviation of detector responses or design parameters can be obtained using cross section covariance matrix. The code is able to perform sensitivity-uncertainty analysis for secondary neutron angular distribution(SAD) and secondary neutron energy distribution(SED). Covariances of 6 Li and 7 Li neutron cross sections in JENDL-3PR1 were evaluated including SAD and SED. Covariances of Fe and Be were also evaluated. The uncertainty of tritium breeding ratio, fast neutron leakage flux and neutron heating was analysed on four types of blanket concepts for a commercial tokamak fusion reactor. The uncertainty of tritium breeding ratio was less than 6 percent. Contribution from SAD/SED uncertainties are significant for some parameters. Formulas to estimate the errors of numerical solution of the transport equation were derived based on the perturbation theory. This method enables us to deterministically estimate the numerical errors due to iterative solution, spacial discretization and Legendre polynomial expansion of transfer cross-sections. The calculational errors of the tritium breeding ratio and the fast neutron leakage flux of the fusion blankets were analysed. (author)

Multi-group neutron transport theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zelazny, R.; Kuszell, A.

1962-01-01

Multi-group neutron transport theory. In the paper the general theory of the application of the K. M. Case method to N-group neutron transport theory in plane geometry is given. The eigenfunctions (distributions) for the system of Boltzmann equations have been derived and the completeness theorem has been proved. By means of general solution two examples important for reactor and shielding calculations are given: the solution of a critical and albedo problem for a slab. In both cases the system of singular integral equations for expansion coefficients into a full set of eigenfunction distributions has been reduced to the system of Fredholm-type integral equations. Some results can be applied also to some spherical problems. (author) [fr

Study on neutron beam probe. Study on the focused neutron beam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kotajima, Kyuya; Suzuki, K.; Fujisawa, M.; Takahashi, T.; Sakamoto, I. [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Faculty of Engineering; Wakabayashi, T.

1998-03-01

A monoenergetic focused neutron beam has been produced by utilizing the endoenergetic heavy ion reactions on hydrogen. To realize this, the projectile heavy ion energy should be taken slightly above the threshold energy, so that the excess energy converted to the neutron energy should be very small. In order to improve the capability of the focused neutron beam, some hydrogen stored metal targets have also been tested. Separating the secondary heavy ions (associated particles) from the primary ions (accelerated particles) by using a dipole magnet, a rf separator, and a particle identification system, we could directly count the produced neutrons. This will leads us to the possibility of realizing the standard neutron field which had been the empty dream of many neutron-related researchers in the world. (author)

Oxygen enhancement ratio as a function of neutron energy with mammalian cells in culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rini, F.J.; Hall, E.J.; Marino, S.A.

1979-01-01

Chinese hamster cells (V79) in culture under oxic and hypoxic conditions were irradiated with several neutron beams spanning a wide energy range to determine the oxygen enhancement ratio (OER). Eight essentially monoenergetic neutron beams, ranging from 0.22 to 13.6 MeV and a 0.11-MeV neutron spectrum, were produced at the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Additional experiments were performed at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, where neutrons are produced for radiotherapy by bombarding a beryllium target with 35-MeV deuterons. This beam has a broad energy spectrum with a mean energy of about 15 MeV. A maximum OER of about 1.9 was observed for 13.6-MeV neutrons. The OER values of the monoenergetic neutrons decreased with energy, plateaued at about 1.45 for the energy range from 0.22 to 2.0 MeV and increased slightly to about 1.55 for lower energy spectrum. In the light of microdosimetric data obtained for the neutron beams at RARAF, the OER appears to depend primarily on the intermediate-LET secondaries produced by neutrons in tissue, such as protons, while in contrast high LET-secondaries, such as α-particles and recoil ions, play a minor role. The studies using the NRL neutron beam resulted in a lower OER of about 1.67 as compared to the monoenergetic 13.6-MeV beam. This is a consequence of the fact that more of the dose is deposited by intermediate LET secondaries for the NRL neutron beam

Linear stochastic neutron transport theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewins, J.

1978-01-01

A new and direct derivation of the Bell-Pal fundamental equation for (low power) neutron stochastic behaviour in the Boltzmann continuum model is given. The development includes correlation of particle emission direction in induced and spontaneous fission. This leads to generalizations of the backward and forward equations for the mean and variance of neutron behaviour. The stochastic importance for neutron transport theory is introduced and related to the conventional deterministic importance. Defining equations and moment equations are derived and shown to be related to the backward fundamental equation with the detector distribution of the operational definition of stochastic importance playing the role of an adjoint source. (author)

Calibration of neutron yield activation measurements at JET using MCNP and furnace neutron transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pillon, M.; Martone, M.; Verschuur, K.A.; Jarvis, O.N.; Kaellne, J.

1989-01-01

Neutron transport calculations have been performed using fluence ray tracing (FURNACE code) and Monte Carlo particle trajectory sampling methods (MCNP code) in order to determine the neutron fluence and energy distributions at different locations in the JET tokamak. These calculations were used to calibrate the activation measurements used in the determination of the absolute fusion neutron yields from the JET plasma. We present here the neutron activation response coefficients calculated for three different materials. Comparison of the MCNP and FURNACE results helps identify the sources of error in these neutron transport calculations. The accuracy of these calculations was tested by comparing the total 2.5 MeV neutron yields derived from the activation measurements with those obtained with calibrated fission chambers; agreement at the ±15% level was demonstrate. (orig.)

Influence of target-scattered neutrons on cross-section measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesiecki, H.; Cosack, M.; Siebert, B.R.L.

1985-01-01

Monoenergetic neutrons produced with accelerators are usually accompanied by degraded and secondary neutrons which arise from reactions of source neutrons in the material of the target construction. A Monte Carlo code was written which takes into account the kinematics and the angular source strength of the neutron producing reaction and the interactions of the neutrons with the material in the immediate vicinity of their production. The calculation of the spectral distribution of the neutron fluence is compared with the result of a time-of-flight measurement. (author)

Heterogeneity effects in neutron transport computations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gelbard, E.M.

1975-01-01

A nuclear reactor is, generally, an intricate heterogeneous structure whose adjacent components may differ radically in their neutronic properties. The heterogeneities in the structure of the reactor complicate the work of the reactor analyst and tend to degrade the efficiency of the numerical methods used in reactor computations. Two types of heterogeneity effects are considered. First, certain singularities in the solution of the neutron transport equation, induced by heterogeneities, are briefly described. Second, the effect of heterogeneities on neutron leakage rates, and consequently on effective diffusion coefficients, are discussed. (5 figures) (U.S.)

Measurements of anomalous neutron transport in bulk graphite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowman, C.D.; Smith, G.A.; Vogelaar, B.; Howell, C.R.; Bilpuch, E.G.; Tornow, W.

2003-01-01

The neutron absorption of bulk granular graphite has been measured in a classical exponential diffusion experiment. Our first measurements of April 2002 implementing both exponential decay and pulsed die-away experiments and using the TUNL pulsed accelerator at Duke University as a neutron source indicated a capture cross section for graphite a striking factor of three lower than the measured value for carbon of 3.4 millibarns. Therefore a new exponential experiment with an improved geometry enabling greater accuracy has been performed giving an apparent cross section for carbon in the form of bulk granular graphite of less than 0.5 millibarns. This result confirms our first result and is also consistent with less than one part per million of boron in our graphite. The bulk density of the graphite is 1.02 compared with the actual particle density of 1.60 indicating a packing fraction of 0.64 or a void fraction of 0.36. We suspect that the apparent suppression of absorption in bulk graphite may be associated with the strong coherent diffraction of neutrons that dominates neutron transport in graphite. Coherent diffraction has never been taken into account in graphite reactor design and no neutron transport code including general use codes such as MCNP incorporate diffraction effects even though diffraction dominates many practical thermal neutron transport problems. (orig.)

Measurements of anomalous neutron transport in bulk graphite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bowman, C.D.; Smith, G.A. [ADNA Corp., Los Alamos, NM (United States); Vogelaar, B. [Virginia Tech., Blacksburg, VA (United States); Howell, C.R.; Bilpuch, E.G.; Tornow, W. [Triangle Univ. Nuclear Lab., Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)

2003-07-01

The neutron absorption of bulk granular graphite has been measured in a classical exponential diffusion experiment. Our first measurements of April 2002 implementing both exponential decay and pulsed die-away experiments and using the TUNL pulsed accelerator at Duke University as a neutron source indicated a capture cross section for graphite a striking factor of three lower than the measured value for carbon of 3.4 millibarns. Therefore a new exponential experiment with an improved geometry enabling greater accuracy has been performed giving an apparent cross section for carbon in the form of bulk granular graphite of less than 0.5 millibarns. This result confirms our first result and is also consistent with less than one part per million of boron in our graphite. The bulk density of the graphite is 1.02 compared with the actual particle density of 1.60 indicating a packing fraction of 0.64 or a void fraction of 0.36. We suspect that the apparent suppression of absorption in bulk graphite may be associated with the strong coherent diffraction of neutrons that dominates neutron transport in graphite. Coherent diffraction has never been taken into account in graphite reactor design and no neutron transport code including general use codes such as MCNP incorporate diffraction effects even though diffraction dominates many practical thermal neutron transport problems. (orig.)

Solving the equation of neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nasfi, Rim

2009-01-01

This work is devoted to the study of some numerical methods of resolution of the problem of transport of the neutrons. We started by introducing the equation integro-differential transport of the neutrons. Then we applied the finite element method traditional for stationary and nonstationary linear problems in 2D. A great part is reserved for the presentation of the mixed numerical diagram and mixed hybrid with two types of uniform grids: triangular and rectangular. Thereafter we treated some numerical examples by implementations in Matlab in order to test the convergence of each method. To finish, we had results of simulation by the Monte Carlo method on a problem of two-dimensional transport with an aim of comparing them with the results resulting from the finite element method mixed hybrids. Some remarks and prospects conclude this work.

Conceptual Design of a 14-MeV D-T Neutron Source for Material Inspection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jin-Choon; Oh, Byung-Hoon

2007-01-01

There is a worldwide need for the efficient inspection of cargo containers at airports, seaports and border crossings. And there is also a growing need for nondestructive inspection of metal objects such as airplane parts. The limitations of X-ray systems for the detection of explosives, drugs, and thick metal structures have stimulated interest in neutron radiograph or tomography. The weak link in such applications is the neutron source. The ideal neutron source should provide a high intensity, high-energy for sufficient penetration and activation, a reliable long-term operation, and a monoenergetic neutron beam. In this paper, we describe a conceptual design of a DT fusion neutron source (monoenergetic 14 MeV neutron generator) which satisfies the fore-mentioned requirements. The current design is based upon the actually proven system using the drive-in target principle. The design is versatile enough to accommodate various applications, ranging from material inspection and explosive interrogation to medical probing and cancer treatment

Structures of the fractional spaces generated by the difference neutron transport operator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashyralyev, Allaberen; Taskin, Abdulgafur

2015-01-01

The initial boundary value problem for the neutron transport equation is considered. The first, second and third order of accuracy difference schemes for the approximate solution of this problem are presented. Highly accurate difference schemes for neutron transport equation based on Padé approximation are constructed. In applications, stability estimates for solutions of difference schemes for the approximate solution of the neutron transport equation are obtained.The positivity of the neutron transport operator in Slobodeckij spaces is proved. Numerical techniques are developed and algorithms are tested on an example in MATLAB

Computational programs for shielding calculation with transport of one dimensional and monoenergetic SN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nunes, Carlos Eduardo A.; Barros, Ricardo C.

2009-01-01

This paper describes a computational program for result simulation of neutron transport problems at one velocity with isotropic scattering in Cartesian onedimensional geometry. Describing the physical modelling, the next phase is a mathematical modelling of the physical problem for simulation of the neutron distribution. The mathematical modelling uses the linearized Boltzmann equation which represents a balance among the production and loss of particles. The formulation of the discrete ordinates S N consists of discretization of angular variables at N directions (discrete ordinates), and using a set of angular quadratures for the approximation of integral terms of scattering sources. The S N equations are numerically solved. This work describes three numerical methods: diamond difference, step and characteristic step. The paper also presents numerical results for illustration of the efficiency of the developed program

The transport of neutrons and gamma-rays in the air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamski, J.

1980-01-01

The transport of neutrons and gamma rays in the infinite homogeneous air has been investigated. For the calculations has been used the Multigroup One Dimensional Discrete Ordinates Transport Code ANISN-W. The calculations have been performed for three types of neutron sources. The neutrons and gamma ray doses in the air have been analyzed, and comparison to the other authors' results has been given. (author)

The Lattice Boltzmann Method applied to neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erasmus, B.; Van Heerden, F. A.

2013-01-01

In this paper the applicability of the Lattice Boltzmann Method to neutron transport is investigated. One of the main features of the Lattice Boltzmann method is the simultaneous discretization of the phase space of the problem, whereby particles are restricted to move on a lattice. An iterative solution of the operator form of the neutron transport equation is presented here, with the first collision source as the starting point of the iteration scheme. A full description of the discretization scheme is given, along with the quadrature set used for the angular discretization. An angular refinement scheme is introduced to increase the angular coverage of the problem phase space and to mitigate lattice ray effects. The method is applied to a model problem to investigate its applicability to neutron transport and the results are compared to a reference solution calculated, using MCNP. (authors)

Neutrons in basic and applied nuclear research - a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharya, Sailajananda

2013-01-01

Energetic neutron sources, both white and mono-energetic, are widely used In basic nuclear physics as well as various multidisciplinary research. Precise measurement of various neutron induced reaction cross-sections are crucial for the design and development of new generation of reactors, like accelerator driven subcritical systems, nuclear incinerators, etc. A review of some recent trends in neutron induced basic and applied nuclear research will be presented in this talk. (author)

Utilizations of filtered neutron beams at Dalat nuclear research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hien, P.D.; Chau, L.N.; Tan, V.H.; Hiep, N.T.; Phuong, L.B.

1992-01-01

Neutron beam utilizations in basic and applied researches have been important activities at the Dalat nuclear reactor. The neutron filters with single crystal of silicon are used to produce thermal neutrons at the tangential horizontal channel and quasi-monoenergetic 144 KeV and 54 KeV neutrons at the piercing beam tube. The paper presents some relevant characteristics of the filtered neutron beams at the two horizontal channels. Applications of neutron beams in prompt gamma-ray activation analysis and in nuclear data measurements are briefly described. (author)

Neutron microdosimetry at RARAF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kliauga, P.

1986-01-01

A comprehensive series of measurements of neutron microdosimetry spectra is underway at the RARAF facility. The neutrons generated at RARAF are semi-monoenergetic to monoenergetic, depending on energy. Thus far, measurements have concentrated on 15 MeV, with a few measurements done at 6 MeV. One of the main reasons for undertaking this project is dissatisfaction with the state of accuracy of microdosimetric measurements of neutrons, not only previous measurements done at RARAF, but reports in the literature from all over the world. Only a relatively modest amount of data has been taken for neutrons, as compared to photons, and the survey of dose mean lineal energy values done for the recent ICRU Report No. 36 (December 1983) reveals a spread of values far in excess of accepted estimates of statistical uncertainty (5-10%). One of the major motivations in undertaking this project, therefore, was to elucidate some of the factors, including experimental artifacts, which are important in contributing to systematic errors in measurements. Among the methods being employed are determination of the effect of various counter parameters on neutron spectra, and electronic parameters, also. Another important method of obtaining information is a comparison between different counters. This laboratory has access to perhaps a greater variety of microdosimetric proportional counters than any in the world, from the standard Rossi counter, to various wall-less types of differing geometries. Controlled comparisons of spectra from such differing counters using the same analysis technique can yield much information on the effect of counter geometry on the microdosimetric spectrum

Transport of accelerator produced high energy neutrons though concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prabhakar Rao, G.; Sarkar, P.K.

1996-01-01

Development of a computational system for estimating the production and transport of high energy neutrons in particle accelerators is reported. The energy-angle distribution of neutrons from accelerated ions bombarding thick targets is calculated by a hybrid nuclear reaction model code, ALICE-91, modified to suit the purpose. Subsequent transmission of these neutrons through concrete slabs is treated using the anisotropic source-flux iteration technique (ASFIT) in the framework of a coupled neutron-gamma transport. Several parameters of both the codes have been optimized to obtain the transmitted dose through concrete. The calculations are found to be accurate and at the same time faster compared to the detailed Monte Carlo calculations. (author). 8 refs., 2 figs

Asymptotic time dependent neutron transport in multidimensional systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagy, M.E.; Sawan, M.E.; Wassef, W.A.; El-Gueraly, L.A.

1983-01-01

A model which predicts the asymptotic time behavior of the neutron distribution in multi-dimensional systems is presented. The model is based on the kernel factorization method used for stationary neutron transport in a rectangular parallelepiped. The accuracy of diffusion theory in predicting the asymptotic time dependence is assessed. The use of neutron pulse experiments for predicting the diffusion parameters is also investigated

Measurements of double-differential neutron emission cross sections of Nb and Bi for 11.5 MeV neutrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ibaraki, Masanobu; Matsuyama, Shigeo; Soda, Daisuke; Baba, Mamoru; Hirakawa, Naohiro [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

1997-03-01

Double-differential neutron emission cross sections (DDXs) of Nb and Bi have been measured for 11.5MeV neutrons using the {sup 15N}(d,n){sup 16}O quasi-monoenergetic neutron source at Tohoku University 4.5MV Dynamitron facility. For En`>6MeV, DDXs were measured by the conventional TOF method (single-TOF:S-TOF). For En`<6MeV, where the S-TOF spectra were distorted by the background neutrons, we adopted a double-TOF method (D-TOF). By applying D-TOF method, we obtained DDXs down to 1MeV. (author)

Experimental validation of GADRAS's coupled neutron-photon inverse radiation transport solver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattingly, John K.; Mitchell, Dean James; Harding, Lee T.

2010-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories has developed an inverse radiation transport solver that applies nonlinear regression to coupled neutron-photon deterministic transport models. The inverse solver uses nonlinear regression to fit a radiation transport model to gamma spectrometry and neutron multiplicity counting measurements. The subject of this paper is the experimental validation of that solver. This paper describes a series of experiments conducted with a 4.5 kg sphere of α-phase, weapons-grade plutonium. The source was measured bare and reflected by high-density polyethylene (HDPE) spherical shells with total thicknesses between 1.27 and 15.24 cm. Neutron and photon emissions from the source were measured using three instruments: a gross neutron counter, a portable neutron multiplicity counter, and a high-resolution gamma spectrometer. These measurements were used as input to the inverse radiation transport solver to evaluate the solver's ability to correctly infer the configuration of the source from its measured radiation signatures.

Development and Characterization of a High Sensitivity Segmented Fast Neutron Spectrometer (FaNS-2).

Science.gov (United States)

Langford, T J; Beise, E J; Breuer, H; Heimbach, C R; Ji, G; Nico, J S

2016-01-01

We present the development of a segmented fast neutron spectrometer (FaNS-2) based upon plastic scintillator and 3 He proportional counters. It was designed to measure both the flux and spectrum of fast neutrons in the energy range of few MeV to 1 GeV. FaNS-2 utilizes capture-gated spectroscopy to identify neutron events and reject backgrounds. Neutrons deposit energy in the plastic scintillator before capturing on a 3 He nucleus in the proportional counters. Segmentation improves neutron energy reconstruction while the large volume of scintillator increases sensitivity to low neutron fluxes. A main goal of its design is to study comparatively low neutron fluxes, such as cosmogenic neutrons at the Earth's surface, in an underground environment, or from low-activity neutron sources. In this paper, we present details of its design and construction as well as its characterization with a calibrated 252 Cf source and monoenergetic neutron fields of 2.5 MeV and 14 MeV. Detected monoenergetic neutron spectra are unfolded using a Singular Value Decomposition method, demonstrating a 5% energy resolution at 14 MeV. Finally, we discuss plans for measuring the surface and underground cosmogenic neutron spectra with FaNS-2.

DEMONR, Monte-Carlo Shielding Calculation for Neutron Flux and Neutron Spectra, Teaching Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courtney, J. C.

1987-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: DEMONR treats the behavior of neutrons in a slab shield. It is frequently used as a teaching tool. 2 - Method of solution: An unbiased Monte Carlo code calculates the number, energy, and direction of neutrons that penetrate or are reflected from a shield. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Only one shield may be used in each problem. The shield material may be a single element or a homogeneous mixture of elements with a single effective atomic weight. Only elastic scattering and neutron capture processes are allowed. The source is a point located on one face of the slab. It provides a cosine distribution of current. Monoenergetic or fission spectrum neutrons may be selected

Angular neutron transport investigation in the HZETRN free-space ion and nucleon transport and shielding computer program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singleterry, R.C. Jr.; Wilson, J.W.

1997-01-01

Extension of the high charge and energy (HZE) transport computer program HZETRN for angular transport of neutrons is considered. For this paper, only light ion transport, He 4 and lighter, will be analyzed using a pure solar proton source. The angular transport calculator is the ANISN/PC program which is being controlled by the HZETRN program. The neutron flux values are compared for straight-ahead transport and angular transport in one dimension. The shield material is aluminum and the target material is water. The thickness of these materials is varied; however, only the largest model calculated is reported which is 50 gm/cm 2 of aluminum and 100 gm/cm 2 of water. The flux from the ANISN/PC calculation is about two orders of magnitude lower than the flux from HZETRN for very low energy neutrons. It is only a magnitude lower for the neutrons in the 10 to 20 MeV range in the aluminum and two orders lower in the water. The major reason for this difference is in the transport modes: straight-ahead versus angular. The angular treatment allows a longer path length than the straight-ahead approximation. Another reason is the different cross section sets used by the ANISN/PC-BUGLE-80 mode and the HZETRN mode. The next step is to investigate further the differences between the two codes and isolate the differences to just the angular versus straight-ahead transport mode. Then, create a better coupling between the angular neutron transport and the charged particle transport

Effect of granulation of geological samples in neutron transport measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woznicka, Urszula; Drozdowicz, Krzysztof; Gabanska, Barbara; Krynicka, Ewa; Igielski, Andrzej

2001-01-01

The thermal neutron absorption cross section is one of the parameters describing the transport of thermal neutrons in a medium. Theoretical descriptions and experiments which determine the absorption cross section have a wide literature for homogeneous media. The situation comes true e.g. for fluids or amorphous solids. There are many other media which should be treated as heterogeneous. Among others - geological materials. The material heterogeneity for the thermal neutron transport in a considered volume is understood here as an existence of many small regions which differ significantly in their macroscopic neutron diffusion parameters (defined by the absorption and transport cross sections). The final difference, which influences the neutron transport, comes from a combination of the absolute differences between the parameters and of sizes of regions (related to the neutron mean free paths). A rock can be naturally heterogeneous in the above meaning. Besides, it can happen that a preparation of the rock sample for a neutron measurement can increase its natural heterogeneity. (For example, when the rock material is crushed and the measured sample consists of the obtained grains). The question is which granulation is allowed to treat the sample material as still homogeneous, and from which size of the rock grains we have to consider a two-component medium. It has been experimentally proved that the effective absorption of thermal neutrons in a heterogeneous two-component material can significantly differ from the absorption in a homogeneous one which consists of the same elements. The final effect is dependent on a few factors: the macroscopic absorption cross sections of the components, their total mass contributions, and the size of the grains. The ratio of the effective absorption cross section of the heterogeneous material to the cross section of the equivalent homogeneous, is a measure of the heterogeneity effect on the thermal neutron absorption

Recoil-proton fast-neutron counter telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pavan, P.; Toniolo, D.; Zago, G.; Zannoni, R. (Padua Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica); Galeazzi, G.; Bressanini, G.

1981-12-01

A recoil-proton neutron counter telescope is described composed of a solid-state silicon transmission detector and a NE 102 A plastic scintillator, measuring the energy loss, the energy of the recoil protons and the time of flight between the two detectors. The counter exposed to monoenergetic neutron beams of energy from 6 to 20 MeV presents a low background and a moderate energy resolution. Its absolute efficiency is calculated up to 50 MeV.

Recoil-proton fast-neutron-counter telescope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galeazzi, G.; Pavan, P.; Toniolo, D.; Zago, G.; Zannoni, R.; Bressanini, G.

1981-01-01

A proton-recoil neutron counter telescope is described composed of a solid state silicon transmission detector and a NE 102 A plastic scintillator, measuring the energy loss, the energy of the recoil protons and the time-of-flight between the two detectors. The counter exposed to monoenergetic neutron beams of energy from 6 to 20 MeV, presents a low background and a moderate energy resolution. Its absolute efficiency is calculated up to 50 MeV.

Magnetic field devices for neutron spin transport and manipulation in precise neutron spin rotation measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maldonado-Velázquez, M. [Posgrado en Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 (Mexico); Barrón-Palos, L., E-mail: libertad@fisica.unam.mx [Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 20-364, 01000 (Mexico); Crawford, C. [University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506 (United States); Snow, W.M. [Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 (United States)

2017-05-11

The neutron spin is a critical degree of freedom for many precision measurements using low-energy neutrons. Fundamental symmetries and interactions can be studied using polarized neutrons. Parity-violation (PV) in the hadronic weak interaction and the search for exotic forces that depend on the relative spin and velocity, are two questions of fundamental physics that can be studied via the neutron spin rotations that arise from the interaction of polarized cold neutrons and unpolarized matter. The Neutron Spin Rotation (NSR) collaboration developed a neutron polarimeter, capable of determining neutron spin rotations of the order of 10{sup −7} rad per meter of traversed material. This paper describes two key components of the NSR apparatus, responsible for the transport and manipulation of the spin of the neutrons before and after the target region, which is surrounded by magnetic shielding and where residual magnetic fields need to be below 100 μG. These magnetic field devices, called input and output coils, provide the magnetic field for adiabatic transport of the neutron spin in the regions outside the magnetic shielding while producing a sharp nonadiabatic transition of the neutron spin when entering/exiting the low-magnetic-field region. In addition, the coils are self contained, forcing the return magnetic flux into a compact region of space to minimize fringe fields outside. The design of the input and output coils is based on the magnetic scalar potential method.

Safety improvement of start-up neutron source handling work by preparing new transport containers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimazaki, Yosuke; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Yanagida, Yoshinori; Shinohara, Masanori; Kawamoto, Taiki; Takada, Shoji

2016-01-01

The conventional transport containers that have been used in HTTR start-up neutron source replacement work are not specialized type for HTTR start-up neutron source. As the risks associated with the safe handling of neutron source holders due to the above fact, the following three risks have been confirmed: (1) exposure risk due to leakage of neutron source or gamma rays, (2) risk of erroneous fall of neutron source holders, and (3) accident due to incorrect handling of transport containers. This paper reports the risks confirmed in the handling of neutron source holders associated with transport containers and the risk reduction measures, as well as the fabrication of new transport containers. By employing the size-reduction and simple structure, new transport containers have been completed at the same level of costs compared with the continuous use of the conventional transport containers, while satisfying the criteria of Type A transport materials and serving as risk preventive measures. Thus, new transport containers aimed at the risk prevention measures for the handling work of neutron source holders have been completed, and the safety of operation has been improved. (A.O.)

Use of the associated particle technique in the fast neutron spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aquirre O, G.A.

1978-01-01

Selecting a neutrons monoenergetic source it was found that the nuclear reaction D(d,n) 3 He can be used to measure nuclear sections and differentials in elastic nuclear reactions through the associated particle technique; the neutron beam energy is directly determined in time of flight spectrum of the neutron. The flux is determined by the number of 3 He ions observed in the charged particle spectrum. The neutron flux can be increased increasing the solid angle of the neutrons beam in two magnitude orders according to the results of neutrons beam profile measures. (author)

Neutron and gamma-ray transport experiments in liquid air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farley, W.E.

1976-01-01

Accurate estimates of neutron and gamma radiations from a nuclear explosion and their subsequent transport through the atmosphere are vital to nuclear-weapon employment studies: i.e., for determining safety radii for aircraft crews, casualty and collateral-damage risk radii for tactical weapons, and the kill range from a high-yield defensive burst for a maneuvering reentry vehicle. Radiation transport codes, such as the Laboratory's TARTNP, are used to calculate neutron and gamma fluences. Experiments have been performed to check and update these codes. Recently, a 1.3-m-radius liquid-air (21 percent oxygen) sphere, with a pulsed source of 14-MeV neutrons at its center, was used to measure the fluence and spectra of emerging neutrons and secondary gamma rays. Comparison of measured radiation dose with TARTNP showed agreement within 10 percent

Transportable, Low-Dose Active Fast-Neutron Imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mihalczo, John T. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Wright, Michael C. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); McConchie, Seth M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Archer, Daniel E. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Palles, Blake A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2017-08-01

This document contains a description of the method of transportable, low-dose active fast-neutron imaging as developed by ORNL. The discussion begins with the technique and instrumentation and continues with the image reconstruction and analysis. The analysis discussion includes an example of how a gap smaller than the neutron production spot size and detector size can be detected and characterized depending upon the measurement time.

A Green function of neutron transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simovic, R.

1993-01-01

In this paper the angularly dependent Green function of the neutron transport equation is derived analytically and approximately. By applying the analytical FDPN approximation up to eighth order, numerical values of the Green functions are obtained with the accuracy of six significant figures in the whole range of parameter c, angle cosine μ and distances x up to the ten optical lengths from the neutron source. (author)

Simulations of neutron transport at low energy: a comparison between GEANT and MCNP.

Science.gov (United States)

Colonna, N; Altieri, S

2002-06-01

The use of the simulation tool GEANT for neutron transport at energies below 20 MeV is discussed, in particular with regard to shielding and dose calculations. The reliability of the GEANT/MICAP package for neutron transport in a wide energy range has been verified by comparing the results of simulations performed with this package in a wide energy range with the prediction of MCNP-4B, a code commonly used for neutron transport at low energy. A reasonable agreement between the results of the two codes is found for the neutron flux through a slab of material (iron and ordinary concrete), as well as for the dose released in soft tissue by neutrons. These results justify the use of the GEANT/MICAP code for neutron transport in a wide range of applications, including health physics problems.

Design of calibration method in neutron and individual dosimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belkhodia, M.

1984-12-01

Usually albedo dosemeters are calibrated with beam of monoenergetic neutrons. Since neutron energy around neutron sources varies greatly, we applied the calibration method to a mixed field whose energy spectrum lies between 0.025 ev and 10 Mev. The method is based on a mathematical model that deals with the dosimeter response as a function at the neutron energy. The measurements carried out with solid state nuclear track detectors show the dosimeter practical aspect. The albedo dosimeter calibration gave results on good agreement with the international institution recommendations

Neutron crosstalk between liquid scintillators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verbeke, J.M., E-mail: verbeke2@llnl.gov; Prasad, M.K., E-mail: prasad1@llnl.gov; Snyderman, N.J., E-mail: snyderman1@llnl.gov

2015-09-11

A method is proposed to quantify the fractions of neutrons scattering between liquid scintillators. Using a spontaneous fission source, this method can be utilized to quickly characterize an array of liquid scintillators in terms of crosstalk. The point model theory due to Feynman is corrected to account for these multiple scatterings. Using spectral information measured by the liquid scintillators, fractions of multiple scattering can be estimated, and mass reconstruction of fissile materials under investigation can be improved. Monte Carlo simulations of mono-energetic neutron sources were performed to estimate neutron crosstalk. A californium source in an array of liquid scintillators was modeled to illustrate the improvement of the mass reconstruction.

Neutron crosstalk between liquid scintillators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verbeke, J.M.; Prasad, M.K.; Snyderman, N.J.

2015-01-01

A method is proposed to quantify the fractions of neutrons scattering between liquid scintillators. Using a spontaneous fission source, this method can be utilized to quickly characterize an array of liquid scintillators in terms of crosstalk. The point model theory due to Feynman is corrected to account for these multiple scatterings. Using spectral information measured by the liquid scintillators, fractions of multiple scattering can be estimated, and mass reconstruction of fissile materials under investigation can be improved. Monte Carlo simulations of mono-energetic neutron sources were performed to estimate neutron crosstalk. A californium source in an array of liquid scintillators was modeled to illustrate the improvement of the mass reconstruction

Neutron measurement by transportable spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1990-01-01

Two levels of neutron spectrometry are in regular use at nuclear power plants: some techniques used in the laboratory produce detailed spectra but require specialist operators, while simple instruments used by non-specialists to measure the neutron dose-rate to operators provide little spectral information. The standard portable instruments are therefore of no use when anomalous readings are obtained which require further investigation. AEA Technology at Winfrith has developed a Transportable Neutron Spectrometer (TNS) which is designed to produce reasonable spectra in routine use by staff with no specialist skill in spectroscopy, and high-quality spectra in the hands of skilled staff. The TNS provides a level of information intermediate between those currently available, and is also designed to solve the problem of imperfect dose response which is common in portable dosimeters. The TNS system consists of a power supply, a probe and a signal processing and data acquisition unit. (author)

Neutron spectrum measurement using rise-time discrimination method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Zhiping; Suzuki, C.; Kosako, T.; Ma Jizeng

2009-01-01

PSD method can be used to measure the fast neutron spectrum in n/γ mixed field. A set of assemblies for measuring the pulse height distribution of neutrons is built up,based on a large volume NE213 liquid scintillator and standard NIM circuits,through the rise-time discrimination method. After that,the response matrix is calculated using Monte Carlo method. The energy calibration of the pulse height distribution is accomplished using 60 Co radioisotope. The neutron spectrum of the mono-energetic accelerator neutron source is achieved by unfolding process. Suggestions for further improvement of the system are presented at last. (authors)

Concise four-vector scheme for neutron transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulacsy, K.; Lukacs, B.; Racz, A.

1995-01-01

An explicit Riemannian geometrical form or the vectorial Neutron Streaming Term is presented. The method applies the full Riemannian technique of general covariance. There are cases when the symmetry of the neutron flux must be smaller than that of the arrangement. However, in coordinate space there are always solutions of the Neutron Transport Equation as symmetric as the arrangement, if the latter's symmetry is at least an affine collineation of the Euclidian 3-space. (author). 7 refs

The isotope density inverse problem in multigroup neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zazula, J.M.

1981-01-01

The inverse problem for stationary multigroup anisotropic neutron transport is discussed in order to search for isotope densities in multielement medium. The spatial- and angular-integrated form of neutron transport equation, in terms of the flux in a group - density of an element spatial correlation, leads to a set of integral functionals for the densities weighted by the group fluxes. Some methods of approximation to make the problem uniquently solvable are proposed. Particularly P 0 angular flux information and the spherically-symetrical geometry of an infinite medium are considered. The numerical calculation using this method related to sooner evaluated direct problem data gives promising agreement with primary densities. This approach would be the basis for further application in an elemental analysis of a medium, using an isotopic neutron source and a moving, energy-dependent neutron detector. (author)

Computational response study of personal and albedo neutron dosemeters composed of solid state track detectors based on (n,α) reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palfalvi, J.

1984-03-01

The combined effect of incident and albedo neutrons on the response of several fission and (n,α) track detectors was investigated by calculations for monoenergetic neutrons and for neutrons from different energetic sources. The response functions are presented in tables and plots. (author)

Solution of the linear transport equation, monoenergetic in multiregions with anisotopic scattering by the method F sub(N)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pontedeiro, E.M.B.D.; Maiorino, J.R.

1982-01-01

The linear equation transport, monoenergetic, with anysotropic scattering, in multiregions, by F sub(N) method, is resolved. The mathematical analysis used for this method consists in to use parcially the expansion method in singular autofunctions, or Case's method, aiming to derive a set of integral equations coupled to the angular distribution in the boundaries and interfaces, and then to approximate these distributions by polynomics of N order, aiming to derive, with the use of these boundary and continuity conditions in the interfaces, a set of algebric equations for the coef. of polynomical approximation. With the goal to obtain numerical results, a computer code (FNAM-1) with options for the number of regions, boundary conditions, F sub(N) approx order, were developed. Numerical results were then obtained for various sample problems and compared with the results published in the literature with the objective to demonstrate the precision and applicability of the F sub(N) method. (E.G.) [pt

Multilayer detector for operative estimation of spectral composition of neutron fields

CERN Document Server

Dedenko, G L; Kaplun, A A; Kolesnikov, S V; Samosadnyj, A V; Samosadnyj, V T

2002-01-01

Paper describes measuring and control equipment to detect and to identify neutron sources. The equipment comprises two multilayer detectors based on sup 3 He-counters of slow neutron and poly ethylene moderator of fast neutrons, as well as, intensifiers-signal shapers, power multichannel intensifies, power unit, 8-bit microprocessor base information acquisition and processing system. Paper contains the results of measurements of energy dependence of sensitivity of neutron recording by detector layers with application of monoenergetic neutron fluxes. Difference of the experimental data and the Monte Carlo method base calculation results is 10% maximum

Continuous energy Neutron Transport Monte Carlo Simulator Project: Decomposition of the neutron energy spectrum by target nuclei tagging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barcellos, Luiz Felipe F.C.; Bodmann, Bardo E.J.; Vilhena, Marco T.M.B., E-mail: luizfelipe.fcb@gmail.com, E-mail: bardo.bodmann@ufrgs.br, E-mail: mtmbvilhena@gmail.com [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil). Grupo de Estudos Nucleares; Leite, Sergio Q. Bogado, E-mail: sbogado@ibest.com.br [Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2017-07-01

In this work a Monte Carlo simulator with continuous energy is used. This simulator distinguishes itself by using the sum of three probability distributions to represent the neutron spectrum. Two distributions have known shape, but have varying population of neutrons in time, and these are the fission neutron spectrum (for high energy neutrons) and the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution (for thermal neutrons). The third distribution has an a priori unknown and possibly variable shape with time and is determined from parametrizations of Monte Carlo simulation. It is common practice in neutron transport calculations, e.g. multi-group transport, to consider that the neutrons only lose energy with each scattering reaction and then to use a thermal group with a Maxwellian distribution. Such an approximation is valid due to the fact that for fast neutrons up-scattering occurrence is irrelevant, being only appreciable at low energies, i.e. in the thermal energy region, in which it can be regarded as a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution for thermal equilibrium. In this work the possible neutron-matter interactions are simulated with exception of the up-scattering of neutrons. In order to preserve the thermal spectrum, neutrons are selected stochastically as being part of the thermal population and have an energy attributed to them taken from a Maxwellian distribution. It is then shown how this procedure can emulate the up-scattering effect by the increase in the neutron population kinetic energy. Since the simulator uses tags to identify the reactions it is possible not only to plot the distributions by neutron energy, but also by the type of interaction with matter and with the identification of the target nuclei involved in the process. This work contains some preliminary results obtained from a Monte Carlo simulator for neutron transport that is being developed at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. (author)

A recoil-proton fast-neutron counter telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavan, P.; Toniolo, D.; Zago, G.; Zannoni, R.; Galeazzi, G.; Bressanini, G.

1981-01-01

A recoil-proton neutron counter telescope is described composed of a solid-state silicon transmission detector and a NE 102 A plastic scintillator, measuring the energy loss, the energy of the recoil protons and the time of flight between the two detectors. The counter exposed to monoenergetic neutron beams of energy from 6 to 20 MeV presents a low background and a moderate energy resolution. Its absolute efficiency is calculated up to 50 MeV. (author)

Effect of fractional parameter on neutron transport in finite disturbed reactors with quadratic scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sallah, M.; Margeanu, C. A.

2016-01-01

The space-fractional neutron transport equation is used to describe the neutrons transport in finite disturbed reactors. It is approximated using the Pomraning-Eddington technique to yield two space-fractional differential equations, in terms of neutron density and net neutron flux. These resultant equations are coupled into a fractional diffusion-like equation for the neutron density whose solution is obtained by using Laplace transformation method. The solution is represented in terms of the Mittag-Leffler function and its different orders. The scattering is considered as quadratic scattering to offer a more realistic, compact representation of the system, and to increase the accuracy of the estimated neutronic parameters. The results are presented graphically to illustrate the fractional parameter effect in addition to the effect of radiative-transfer properties on the physical parameters of interest (reflection coefficient, transmission coefficient, neutron energy, and net neutron flux). The neutron transport problem in finite disturbed reactor with quadratic scattering is considered in investigating the shielding effectiveness, by using MAVRIC shielding module from SCALE6 programs package. The fractional parameter can be used to adjust the analysed data on neutron energy and flux, both for the theoretical model and the neutron transport application. (authors)

Transport calculation of medium-energy protons and neutrons by Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ban, Syuuichi; Hirayama, Hideo; Katoh, Kazuaki.

1978-09-01

A Monte Carlo transport code, ARIES, has been developed for protons and neutrons at medium energy (25 -- 500 MeV). Nuclear data provided by R.G. Alsmiller, Jr. were used for the calculation. To simulate the cascade development in the medium, each generation was represented by a single weighted particle and an average number of emitted particles was used as the weight. Neutron fluxes were stored by the collisions density method. The cutoff energy was set to 25 MeV. Neutrons below the cutoff were stored to be used as the source for the low energy neutron transport calculation upon the discrete ordinates method. Then transport calculations were performed for both low energy neutrons (thermal -- 25 MeV) and secondary gamma-rays. Energy spectra of emitted neutrons were calculated and compared with those of published experimental and calculated results. The agreement was good for the incident particles of energy between 100 and 500 MeV. (author)

A three-dimensional neutron transport benchmark solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.; Kornreich, D.E.

1993-01-01

For one-group neutron transport theory in one dimension, several powerful analytical techniques have been developed to solve the neutron transport equation, including Caseology, Wiener-Hopf factorization, and Fourier and Laplace transform methods. In addition, after a Fourier transform in the transverse plane and formulation of a pseudo problem, two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) problems can be solved using the techniques specifically developed for the one-dimensional (1-D) case. Numerical evaluation of the resulting expressions requiring an inversion in the transverse plane have been successful for 2-D problems but becomes exceedingly difficult in the 3-D case. In this paper, we show that by using the symmetry along the beam direction, a 2-D problem can be transformed into a 3-D problem in an infinite medium. The numerical solution to the 3-D problem is then demonstrated. Thus, a true 3-D transport benchmark solution can be obtained from a well-established numerical solution to a 2-D problem

A modular spherical harmonics approach to the neutron transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inanc, F.; Rohach, A.F.

1989-01-01

A modular nodal method was developed for solving the neutron transport equation in 2-D xy coordinates. The spherical harmonic expansion was used for approximating the second-order even-parity form of the neutron transport equation. The boundary conditions of the spherical harmonics approximation were derived in a form to have forms analogous to the partial currents in the neutron diffusion equation. Relations were developed for generating both the second-order spherical harmonic equations and the boundary conditions in an automated computational algorithm. Nodes using different orders of the spherical harmonics approximation to the transport equation were interfaced through mixed-type boundary conditions. The determination of spherical harmonic orders implemented in the nodes were determined by the scheme in an automated manner. Results of the method compared favorably to benchmark problems. (author)

Neutron radiography using a transportable superconducting cyclotron

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allen, D.A. (School of Physics and Space Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT (United Kingdom)); Hawkesworth, M.R. (School of Physics and Space Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT (United Kingdom)); Beynon, T.D. (School of Physics and Space Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT (United Kingdom)); Green, S. (School of Physics and Space Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT (United Kingdom)); Rogers, J.D. (Rolls-Royce, Derby (United Kingdom)); Allen, M.J. (Rolls-Royce, Derby (United Kingdom)); Plummer, H.C. (Rolls-Royce, MatEval, Derby (United Kingdom)); Boulding, N.J. (Oxford Instruments (United Kingdom)); Cox, M. (Oxford Instruments (United Kingdom)); McDougall, I. (Oxford Instruments (United Kingdom))

1994-12-30

A thermal neutron radiography system based on a compact 12 MeV superconducting proton cyclotron is described. Neutrons are generated using a thick beryllium target and moderated in high density polyethylene. Monte Carlo computer simulations have been used to model the neutron and photon transport in order to optimise the performance of the system. With proton beam currents in excess of 100 [mu]A, it can provide high thermal neutron fluxes with L/D ratios of between 50 and 300 for various applications. Both film and electronic imaging are used to produce radiographs. The electronic imaging system consists of a [sup 6]Li-loaded ZnS intensifier screen, and a low light CCD or SIT camera. High resolution images can be recorded and computer-controlled data processing, analysis and display are possible. ((orig.))

A Monte Carlo Green's function method for three-dimensional neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gamino, R.G.; Brown, F.B.; Mendelson, M.R.

1992-01-01

This paper describes a Monte Carlo transport kernel capability, which has recently been incorporated into the RACER continuous-energy Monte Carlo code. The kernels represent a Green's function method for neutron transport from a fixed-source volume out to a particular volume of interest. This method is very powerful transport technique. Also, since kernels are evaluated numerically by Monte Carlo, the problem geometry can be arbitrarily complex, yet exact. This method is intended for problems where an ex-core neutron response must be determined for a variety of reactor conditions. Two examples are ex-core neutron detector response and vessel critical weld fast flux. The response is expressed in terms of neutron transport kernels weighted by a core fission source distribution. In these types of calculations, the response must be computed for hundreds of source distributions, but the kernels only need to be calculated once. The advance described in this paper is that the kernels are generated with a highly accurate three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport calculation instead of an approximate method such as line-of-sight attenuation theory or a synthesized three-dimensional discrete ordinates solution

MONSTER: a TOF Spectrometer for beta-delayed Neutron Spetroscopy

CERN Document Server

Martinez, T; Castilla, J; Garcia, A R; Marin, J; Martinez, G; Mendoza, E; Santos, C; Tera, F; Jordan, M D; Rubio, B; Tain, J L; Bhattacharya, C; Banerjee, K; Bhattacharya, S; Roy, P; Meena, J K; Kundu, S; Mukherjee, G; Ghosh, T K; Rana, T K; Pandey, R; Saxena, A; Behera, B; Penttila, H; Jokinen, A; Rinta-Antila, S; Guerrero, C; Ovejero, M C; Villamarin, D; Agramunt, J; Algora, A

2014-01-01

Beta-delayed neutron (DN) data, including emission probabilities, P-n, and energy spectrum, play an important role in our understanding of nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics and nuclear technologies. A MOdular Neutron time-of-flight SpectromeTER (MONSTER) is being built for the measurement of the neutron energy spectra and branching ratios. The TOF spectrometer will consist of one hundred liquid scintillator cells covering a significant solid angle. The MONSTER design has been optimized by using Monte Carlo (MC) techniques. The response function of the MONSTER cell has been characterized with mono-energetic neutron beams and compared to dedicated MC simulations.

A spin-transport system for a longitudinally polarized epithermal neutron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crawford, B.E.; Bowman, J.D.; Penttilae, S.I.; Roberson, N.R.

2001-01-01

The TRIPLE (Time Reversal and Parity at Low Energies) collaboration uses a polarized epithermal neutron beam and a capture γ-ray detector to study parity violation in neutron-nucleus reactions. In order to preserve the spin polarization of the neutrons as they travel the 60-m path to the target, the beam pipes are wrapped with wire to produce a solenoidal magnetic field of about 10 G along the beam direction. The flanges and bellows between sections of the beam pipe cause gaps in the windings which in turn produce radial fields that can depolarize the neutron spins. A computer code has been developed that numerically evaluates the effect of these gaps on the polarization. A measurement of the neutron depolarization for neutrons in the actual spin-transport system agrees with a calculation of the neutron depolarization for the TRIPLE system. Features that will aid in designing similar spin-transport systems are discussed

Neutron fluence spectrometry using disk activation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loevestam, Goeran; Hult, Mikael; Fessler, Andreas; Gasparro, Joel; Kockerols, Pierre; Okkinga, Klaas; Tagziria, Hamid; Vanhavere, Filip; Wieslander, J.S. Elisabeth

2009-01-01

A simple and robust detector for spectrometry of environmental neutrons has been developed. The technique is based on neutron activation of a series of different metal disks followed by low-level gamma-ray spectrometry of the activated disks and subsequent neutron spectrum unfolding. The technique is similar to foil activation but here the applied neutron fluence rates are much lower than usually in the case of foil activation. The detector has been tested in quasi mono-energetic neutron fields with fluence rates in the order of 1000-10000 cm -2 s -1 , where the obtained spectra showed good agreement with spectra measured using a Bonner sphere spectrometer. The detector has also been tested using an AmBe source and at a neutron fluence rate of about 40 cm -2 s -1 , again, a good agreement with the assumed spectrum was achieved

Measurements of prompt gamma-rays from fast-neutron induced fission with the LICORNE directional neutron source

CERN Document Server

Wilson, J N; Halipre, P; Oberstedt, S; Oberstedt, A

2014-01-01

At the IPN Orsay we have developed a unique, directional, fast neutron source called LICORNE, intended initially to facilitate prompt fission gamma measurements. The ability of the IPN Orsay tandem accelerator to produce intense beams of $^7$Li is exploited to produce quasi-monoenergetic neutrons between 0.5 - 4 MeV using the p($^7$Li,$^7$Be)n inverse reaction. The available fluxes of up to 7 × 10$^7$ neutrons/second/steradian for the thickest hydrogen-rich targets are comparable to similar installations, but with two added advantages: (i) The kinematic focusing produces a natural neutron beam collimation which allows placement of gamma detectors adjacent to the irradiated sample unimpeded by source neutrons. (ii) The background of scattered neutrons in the experimental hall is drastically reduced. The dedicated neutron converter was commissioned in June 2013. Some preliminary results from the first experiment using the LICORNE neutron source at the IPN Orsay are presented. Prompt fission gamma rays from fas...

Radiography apparatus using gamma rays emitted by water activated by fusion neutrons

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Donald L.; Ikeda, Yujiro; Uno, Yoshitomo

1996-01-01

Radiography apparatus includes an arrangement for circulating pure water continuously between a location adjacent a source of energetic neutrons, such as a tritium target irradiated by a deuteron beam, and a remote location where radiographic analysis is conducted. Oxygen in the pure water is activated via the .sup.16 O(n,p).sup.16 N reaction using .sup.14 -MeV neutrons produced at the neutron source via the .sup.3 H(d,n).sup.4 He reaction. Essentially monoenergetic gamma rays at 6.129 (predominantly) and 7.115 MeV are produced by the 7.13-second .sup.16 N decay for use in radiographic analysis. The gamma rays have substantial penetrating power and are useful in determining the thickness of materials and elemental compositions, particularly for metals and high-atomic number materials. The characteristic decay half life of 7.13 seconds of the activated oxygen is sufficient to permit gamma ray generation at a remote location where the activated water is transported, while not presenting a chemical or radioactivity hazard because the radioactivity falls to negligible levels after 1-2 minutes.

Implementation of the quasi-static method for neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alcaro, Fabio; Dulla, Sandra; Ravetto, Piero; Le Tellier, Romain; Suteau, Christophe

2011-01-01

The study of the dynamic behavior of next generation nuclear reactors is a fundamental aspect for safety and reliability assessments. Despite the growing performances of modern computers, the full solution of the neutron Boltzmann equation in the time domain is still an impracticable task, thus several approximate dynamic models have been proposed for the simulation of nuclear reactor transients; the quasi-static method represents the standard tool currently adopted for the space-time solution of neutron transport problems. All the practical applications of this method that have been proposed contain a major limit, consisting in the use of isotropic quantities, such as scalar fluxes and isotropic external neutron sources, being the only data structures available in most deterministic transport codes. The loss of the angular information produces both inaccuracies in the solution of the kinetic model and the inconsistency of the quasi-static method itself. The present paper is devoted to the implementation of a consistent quasi-static method. The computational platform developed by CEA in Cadarache has been used for the creation of a kinetic package to be coupled with the existing SNATCH solver, a discrete-ordinate multi-dimensional neutron transport solver, employed for the solution of the steady-state Boltzmann equation. The work aims at highlighting the effects of the angular treatment of the neutron flux on the transient analysis, comparing the results with those produced by the previous implementations of the quasi-static method. (author)

Directed Neutron Beams From Inverse Kinematic Reactions

Science.gov (United States)

Vanhoy, J. R.; Guardala, N. A.; Glass, G. A.

2011-06-01

Kinematic focusing of an emitted fairly mono-energetic neutron beam by the use of inverse-kinematic reactions, i.e. where the projectile mass is greater than the target atom's mass, can provide for the utilization of a significant fraction of the fast neutron yield and also provide for a safer radiation environment. We examine the merit of various neutron production reactions and consider the practicalities of producing the primary beam using the suitable accelerator technologies. Preliminary progress at the NSWC-Carderock Positive Ion Accelerator Facility is described. Possible important applications for this type of neutron-based system can be both advanced medical imaging techniques and active "stand-off" interrogation of contraband items.

Neutron sources: Present practice and future potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cierjacks, S.; Smith, A.B.

1988-01-01

The present capability and future potential of accelerator-based monoenergetic and white neutron sources are outlined in the context of fundamental and applied neutron-nuclear research. The neutron energy range extends from thermal to 500 MeV, and the time domain from steady-state to pico-second pulsed sources. Accelerator technology is summarized, including the production of intense light-ion, heavy-ion and electron beams. Target capabilities are discussed with attention to neutron-producing efficiency and power-handling capabilities. The status of underlying neutron-producing reactions is summarized. The present and future use of neutron sources in: fundamental neutron-nuclear research, nuclear data acquisition, materials damage studies, engineering tests, and biomedical applications are discussed. Emphasis is given to current status, near-term advances well within current technology, and to long-range projections. 90 refs., 4 figs

Neutron generators at Purnima Lab

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patel, Tarun; Sinha, Amar

2015-01-01

Neutron sources are in a great demand in many area like research, nuclear waste management, industrial process control, medical and also security. Major sources of neutrons are nuclear reactors, radioisotopes and accelerator based neutron generators. For many field applications, reactors cannot be used due to its large size, complicated system, high cost and also safety issues. Radioisotopes like Pu-Be, Am-Be, Cf, are extensively used for many industrial applications. But they are limited in their use due to their low source strength and also handling difficulties due to radioactivity. They are also not suitable for pulsed neutron applications. In contrast, compact size, pulsed operation, on/off operation etc.of accelerator based neutron generators make them very popular for many applications. Particle accelerators based on different types of neutron generators have been developed around the world. Among these deuteron accelerator based D-D and D-T neutron generators are widely used as they produce mono-energetic fast neutrons and in particular high yield of D-T neutron can be obtained with less than 300 KV of accelerating voltage

The searchlight problem for neutrons in a semi-infinite medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.

1993-01-01

The solution of the Search Light Problem for monoenergetic neutrons in a semi-infinite medium with isotropic scattering illuminated at the free surface is obtained by several methods at various planes within the medium. The sources considered are a normally-incident pencil beam and an isotropic point source. The analytic solution is effected by a recently developed numerical inversion technique applied to the Fourier-Bessel transform. This transform inversion results from the solution method of Rybicki, where the two-dimensional problem is solved by casting it as a variant of a one-dimensional problem. The numerical inversion process results in a highly accurate solution. Comparisons of the analytic solution with results from Monte Carlo (MCNP) and discrete ordinates transport (DORT) codes show excellent agreement. These comparisons, which are free of any associated data or cross section set dependencies, provide significant evidence of the proper operation of both the transport codes tested

An application of reactor noise techniques to neutron transport problems in a random medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahni, D.C.

1989-01-01

Neutron transport problems in a random medium are considered by defining a joint Markov process describing the fluctuations of one neutron population and the random changes in the medium. Backward Chapman-Kolmogorov equations are derived which yield an adjoint transport equation for the average neutron density. It is shown that this average density also satisfied the direct transport equation as given by the phenomenological model. (author)

Neutron transport simulation in high speed moving media using Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Li, G.; Ciungu, B.; Harrisson, G.; Rogge, R. B.; Tun, Z.; van der Ende, B. M.; Zwiers, I.

2017-12-01

A method using Geant4 to simulate neutron transport in moving media is described. The method is implanted in the source code of the software since Geant4 does not intrinsically support a moving object. The simulation utilizes the existing physical model and data library in Geant4, combined with frame transformations to account for the effect of relative velocity between neutrons and the moving media. An example is presented involving a high speed rotating cylinder to verify this method and show the effect of moving media on neutron transport.

A New Monte Carlo Neutron Transport Code at UNIST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Hyunsuk; Kong, Chidong; Lee, Deokjung

2014-01-01

Monte Carlo neutron transport code named MCS is under development at UNIST for the advanced reactor design and research purpose. This MC code can be used for fixed source calculation and criticality calculation. Continuous energy neutron cross section data and multi-group cross section data can be used for the MC calculation. This paper presents the overview of developed MC code and its calculation results. The real time fixed source calculation ability is also tested in this paper. The calculation results show good agreement with commercial code and experiment. A new Monte Carlo neutron transport code is being developed at UNIST. The MC codes are tested with several benchmark problems: ICSBEP, VENUS-2, and Hoogenboom-Martin benchmark. These benchmarks covers pin geometry to 3-dimensional whole core, and results shows good agreement with reference results

Progress in multidimensional neutron transport computation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, E.E.

1977-01-01

The methods available for solution of the time-independent neutron transport problems arising in the analysis of nuclear systems are examined. The merits of deterministic and Monte Carlo methods are briefly compared. The capabilities of deterministic computational methods derived from the first-order form of the transport equation, from the second-order even-parity form of this equation, and from integral transport formulations are discussed in some detail. Emphasis is placed on the approaches for dealing with the related problems of computer memory requirements, computational cost, and achievable accuracy. Attention is directed to some areas where problems exist currently and where the need for further work appears to be particularly warranted

Comparison of neutron transport calculations with NRC test results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koban, J.; Hofmann, W.

1981-02-01

For an exactly defined reactor arrangement (PCA = Pool Critical Assembly) neutron fluxes, neutron spectra and reaction rates for several neutron detectors were calculated by means of one and two dimensional transport codes. An international comparison proved the methods applied at KWU to be adequate. There were difficulties, however, in considering the three dimensions of the assembly which result mainly from its small dimension. This fact applies to all participants who didn't use three dimensional codes. (orig.) [de

Design studies for a high-resolution, transportable neutron radiography/radioscopy system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gillespie, G.H.; Micklich, B.J.; McMichael, G.E.

1996-01-01

A preliminary design has been developed for a high-resolution, transportable neutron radiology system (TNRS) concept. The primary system requirement is taken to be a thermal neutron flux of 10[sup 6] n/(cm[sup 2]-sec) with a L/D ratio of 100. The approach is to use an accelerator-driven neutron source, with a radiofrequency quadrupole (RFQ) as the primary accelerator component. Initial concepts for all of the major components of the system have been developed,and selected key parts have been examined further. An overview of the system design is presented, together with brief summaries of the concepts for the ion source, low energy beam transport (LEBT), RFQ, high energy beam transport (HEBT), target, moderator, collimator, image collection, power, cooling, vacuum, structure, robotics, control system, data analysis, transport vehicle, and site support. The use of trade studies for optimizing the TNRS concept are also described

Homogenization of the critically spectral equation in neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allaire, G.; Paris-6 Univ., 75; Bal, G.

1998-01-01

We address the homogenization of an eigenvalue problem for the neutron transport equation in a periodic heterogeneous domain, modeling the criticality study of nuclear reactor cores. We prove that the neutron flux, corresponding to the first and unique positive eigenvector, can be factorized in the product of two terms, up to a remainder which goes strongly to zero with the period. On terms is the first eigenvector of the transport equation in the periodicity cell. The other term is the first eigenvector of a diffusion equation in the homogenized domain. Furthermore, the corresponding eigenvalue gives a second order corrector for the eigenvalue of the heterogeneous transport problem. This result justifies and improves the engineering procedure used in practice for nuclear reactor cores computations. (author)

Homogenization of the critically spectral equation in neutron transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allaire, G. [CEA Saclay, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France). Dept. de Mecanique et de Technologie]|[Paris-6 Univ., 75 (France). Lab. d' Analyse Numerique; Bal, G. [Electricite de France (EDF), 92 - Clamart (France). Direction des Etudes et Recherches

1998-07-01

We address the homogenization of an eigenvalue problem for the neutron transport equation in a periodic heterogeneous domain, modeling the criticality study of nuclear reactor cores. We prove that the neutron flux, corresponding to the first and unique positive eigenvector, can be factorized in the product of two terms, up to a remainder which goes strongly to zero with the period. On terms is the first eigenvector of the transport equation in the periodicity cell. The other term is the first eigenvector of a diffusion equation in the homogenized domain. Furthermore, the corresponding eigenvalue gives a second order corrector for the eigenvalue of the heterogeneous transport problem. This result justifies and improves the engineering procedure used in practice for nuclear reactor cores computations. (author)

Methodology of Continuous-Energy Adjoint Monte Carlo for Neutron, Photon, and Coupled Neutron-Photon Transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoogenboom, J. Eduard

2003-01-01

Adjoint Monte Carlo may be a useful alternative to regular Monte Carlo calculations in cases where a small detector inhibits an efficient Monte Carlo calculation as only very few particle histories will cross the detector. However, in general purpose Monte Carlo codes, normally only the multigroup form of adjoint Monte Carlo is implemented. In this article the general methodology for continuous-energy adjoint Monte Carlo neutron transport is reviewed and extended for photon and coupled neutron-photon transport. In the latter cases the discrete photons generated by annihilation or by neutron capture or inelastic scattering prevent a direct application of the general methodology. Two successive reaction events must be combined in the selection process to accommodate the adjoint analog of a reaction resulting in a photon with a discrete energy. Numerical examples illustrate the application of the theory for some simplified problems

Toward whole-core neutron transport without spatial homogenization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, E. E.

2009-01-01

Full text of publication follows: A long-term goal of computational reactor physics is the deterministic analysis of power reactor core neutronics without incurring significant discretization errors in the energy, spatial or angular variables. In principle, given large enough parallel configurations with unlimited CPU time and memory, this goal could be achieved using existing three-dimensional neutron transport codes. In practice, however, solving the Boltzmann equation for neutrons over the six-dimensional phase space is made intractable by the nature of neutron cross-sections and the complexity and size of power reactor cores. Tens of thousands of energy groups would be required for faithful cross section representation. Likewise, the numerous material interfaces present in power reactor lattices require exceedingly fine spatial mesh structures; these ubiquitous interfaces preclude effective implementation of adaptive grid, mesh-less methods and related techniques that have been applied so successfully in other areas of engineering science. These challenges notwithstanding, substantial progress continues in the pursuit for more robust deterministic methods for whole-core neutronics analysis. This paper examines the progress over roughly the last decade, emphasizing the space-angle variables and the quest to eliminate errors attributable to spatial homogenization. As prolog we briefly assess 1990's methods used in light water reactor analysis and review the lessons learned from the C5G7 benchmark exercises which were originated in 1999 to appraise the ability of transport codes to perform core calculations without homogenization. We proceed by examining progress over the last decade much of which falls into three areas. These may be broadly characterized as reduced homogenization, dynamic homogenization and planar-axial synthesis. In the first, homogenization in three-dimensional calculations is reduced from the fuel assembly to the pin-cell level. In the second

Neutron fluence spectrometry using disk activation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loevestam, Goeran [EC-JRC-Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel (Belgium)], E-mail: goeran.loevestam@ec.europa.eu; Hult, Mikael; Fessler, Andreas; Gasparro, Joel; Kockerols, Pierre; Okkinga, Klaas [EC-JRC-Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel (Belgium); Tagziria, Hamid [EC-JRC-Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen (IPSC), Via E. Fermi 1, I-21020 Ispra (Vatican City State, Holy See,) (Italy); Vanhavere, Filip [SCK-CEN, Boeretang, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Wieslander, J.S. Elisabeth [EC-JRC-Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Retieseweg 111, B-2440 Geel (Belgium); Department of Physics, P.O. Box 35 (YFL), FIN-40014, University of Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

2009-01-15

A simple and robust detector for spectrometry of environmental neutrons has been developed. The technique is based on neutron activation of a series of different metal disks followed by low-level gamma-ray spectrometry of the activated disks and subsequent neutron spectrum unfolding. The technique is similar to foil activation but here the applied neutron fluence rates are much lower than usually in the case of foil activation. The detector has been tested in quasi mono-energetic neutron fields with fluence rates in the order of 1000-10000 cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, where the obtained spectra showed good agreement with spectra measured using a Bonner sphere spectrometer. The detector has also been tested using an AmBe source and at a neutron fluence rate of about 40 cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}, again, a good agreement with the assumed spectrum was achieved.

Calculation of neutron fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients using GEANT4; Calculo de coeficientes de fluencia de neutrons para equivalente de dose individual utilizando o GEANT4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ribeiro, Rosane M.; Santos, Denison de S.; Queiroz Filho, Pedro P. de; Mauricio, CLaudia L.P.; Silva, Livia K. da; Pessanha, Paula R., E-mail: rosanemribeiro@oi.com.br [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2014-07-01

Fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients provide the basis for the calculation of area and personal monitors. Recently, the ICRP has started a revision of these coefficients, including new Monte Carlo codes for benchmarking. So far, little information is available about neutron transport below 10 MeV in tissue-equivalent (TE) material performed with Monte Carlo GEANT4 code. The objective of this work is to calculate neutron fluence to personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients, H{sub p} (10)/Φ, with GEANT4 code. The incidence of monoenergetic neutrons was simulated as an expanded and aligned field, with energies ranging between thermal neutrons to 10 MeV on the ICRU slab of dimension 30 x 30 x 15 cm{sup 3}, composed of 76.2% of oxygen, 10.1% of hydrogen, 11.1% of carbon and 2.6% of nitrogen. For all incident energy, a cylindrical sensitive volume is placed at a depth of 10 mm, in the largest surface of the slab (30 x 30 cm{sup 2}). Physic process are included for neutrons, photons and charged particles, and calculations are made for neutrons and secondary particles which reach the sensitive volume. Results obtained are thus compared with values published in ICRP 74. Neutron fluence in the sensitive volume was calculated for benchmarking. The Monte Carlo GEANT4 code was found to be appropriate to calculate neutron doses at energies below 10 MeV correctly. (author)

Numerical study of the particle transport in fast neutron detectors with conversion layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sedlackova, K.; Zatko, B.; Necas, V.

2012-01-01

This paper deals with fast neutron and recoil proton transport simulation using statistical analysis of Monte Carlo radiation transport code (MCNPX). Its possibilities in the detector design and optimization are presented. MCNPX proved as a very advantageous self-contained simulation program for fast neutron and secondary proton tracking. Simulations of respective particle transport through conversion layer of HDPE and further in the active volume of detector let us to follow important characteristics as neutron/proton flux density, reaction rate of elastic scattering on hydrogen nuclei and deposited energy as well as their dependencies on incident neutron energy and conversion layer/active region thickness. The efficiency of neutrons to protons conversion has been calculated and its maximum was reached for 500 μm thick conversion layer. The minimum active region thickness has been estimated to be about 300 μm.(authors)

Fast-neutrons incident on rotors: Tantalum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Alan B.

2005-01-01

Mono-energetic neutrons are elastically and inelastically scattered from elemental tantalum at incident energies of ∼0.3-10.0 MeV. These experimental results are augmented with neutron total-cross-section and additional neutron-scattering data from the literature to form a composite experimental database. The latter is interpreted in the context of optical-statistical and coupled-channels models, including consideration of collective rotations, dispersion effects and other physical properties. The results are compared with those of similar processes in this region of collective nuclei. A regional model is proposed for the interpretation and prediction of such interactions. The model and the experimental results are compared with corresponding values given in ENDF/B-VI

On the reciprocity-like relations in linear neutron transport theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Modak, R.S.; Sahni, D.C.

1997-01-01

The existence of certain reciprocity-like relations in neutron transport theory was shown earlier under some quite restrictive conditions. Here, these relations are shown to be valid in more general situations by using a different approach based on individual neutron trajectories. (author)

Simulation of processes in a SSNTD exposed by monoenergetic neutrons

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, P.; Fromm, M.; Groetz, J. E.; Torrealba, F.; Chambaudet, A.

1998-03-01

The nuclear track technique is based on the registering of latent track ions in a solid state dielectric material (Solid State Nuclear Track Detector) which will be chemically etched in order to be observed and analysed using microscopic analysis tools. The purpose of this study is to observe how a polymeric detector irradiated by a neutron fluence can explain the intensity of ionizing radiations to which structures, electronic components or living organism are exposed. To do this, it is necessary to take into account on the one hand the production of ionizing particles in the detector, and on the other hand the efficacy of their detection. The model we propose must be able to link the number of etched tracks and their parameters to the neutron fluence. The use of both a Monte Carlo code which determines the number of recoil nuclei and a computed model of etched track parameters calculations is needed. The Monte Carlo code performs a simulation of neutron-nucleus elastic collision in the detector. We compute the number of recoil nuclei produced between the surface and a depth of 20 μm in the detector. The computer code assigns six pseudo-random numbers ( xE, zE, a, b, c, α) to each neutron having an energy EN and an angle of incidence and give the results of calculations. We used statistical tests (the moments of the origin of order n and of the average of order n, the χ2 test, the gap test, the Pearson test, the run-up run-down test and the serial test) to check the quality of our pseudo-random number generator. Finally, we will compare the calculated results of the response of the SSNTD (tracks cm -2) with the experimental ones to validate the simulation.

Monte Carlo method for neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asaoka, Takumi

1977-01-01

Some methods for decreasing variances in Monte Carlo neutron transport calculations are presented together with the results of sample calculations. A general purpose neutron transport Monte Carlo code ''MORSE'' was used for the purpose. The first method discussed in this report is the method of statistical estimation. As an example of this method, the application of the coarse-mesh rebalance acceleration method to the criticality calculation of a cylindrical fast reactor is presented. Effective multiplication factor and its standard deviation are presented as a function of the number of histories and comparisons are made between the coarse-mesh rebalance method and the standard method. Five-group neutron fluxes at core center are also compared with the result of S4 calculation. The second method is the method of correlated sampling. This method was applied to the perturbation calculation of control rod worths in a fast critical assembly (FCA-V-3) Two methods of sampling (similar flight paths and identical flight paths) are tested and compared with experimental results. For every cases the experimental value lies within the standard deviation of the Monte Carlo calculations. The third method is the importance sampling. In this report a biased selection of particle flight directions discussed. This method was applied to the flux calculation in a spherical fast neutron system surrounded by a 10.16 cm iron reflector. Result-direction biasing, path-length stretching, and no biasing are compared with S8 calculation. (Aoki, K.)

Specification of fast neutron radiation quality from cell transformation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coppola, M.

1992-01-01

Experimental data on the neoplastic transformation of C3H 10T1/2 cells measured at Casaccia after neutron and X-ray irradiation were used to determine neutron RBE values for the RSV-Tapiro fast reactor energy spectrum and for monoenergetic neutrons of 0.5, 1, and 6 MeV. In parallel, micro-dosimetric measurements provided the actual lineal energy distributions and related mean parameters for the reactor radiation. From these experiments, values of the neutron quality factor were derived for the reactor neutron energy spectrum and, in turn, for the other neutron energies tested. A mathematical expression giving a smooth dependence on neutron energy was also determined for the effective quality factor in the entire energy range examined. The results were compared with other proposals

Neutron transport in Eulerian coordinates with bulk material motion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baker, Randal S., E-mail: rsb@lanl.gov [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Computational Physics Group, Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dahl, Jon A., E-mail: dahl@lanl.gov [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Computational Physics Group, Los Alamos, NM (United States); Fichtl, Erin J., E-mail: efichtl@lanl.gov [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Computational Physics Group, Los Alamos, NM (United States); Morel, Jim E., E-mail: morel@tamu.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX (United States)

2015-12-15

A consistent, numerically stable algorithm for the solution of the neutron transport equation in the presence of a moving material background is presented for one-dimensional spherical geometry. Manufactured solutions are used to demonstrate the correctness and stability of our numerical algorithm. The importance of including moving material corrections is shown for the r-process in proto-neutron stars.

Calculation of neutron fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients using GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ribeiro, Rosane M.; Santos, Denison de S.; Queiroz Filho, Pedro P. de; Mauricio, CLaudia L.P.; Silva, Livia K. da; Pessanha, Paula R.

2014-01-01

Fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients provide the basis for the calculation of area and personal monitors. Recently, the ICRP has started a revision of these coefficients, including new Monte Carlo codes for benchmarking. So far, little information is available about neutron transport below 10 MeV in tissue-equivalent (TE) material performed with Monte Carlo GEANT4 code. The objective of this work is to calculate neutron fluence to personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients, H p (10)/Φ, with GEANT4 code. The incidence of monoenergetic neutrons was simulated as an expanded and aligned field, with energies ranging between thermal neutrons to 10 MeV on the ICRU slab of dimension 30 x 30 x 15 cm 3 , composed of 76.2% of oxygen, 10.1% of hydrogen, 11.1% of carbon and 2.6% of nitrogen. For all incident energy, a cylindrical sensitive volume is placed at a depth of 10 mm, in the largest surface of the slab (30 x 30 cm 2 ). Physic process are included for neutrons, photons and charged particles, and calculations are made for neutrons and secondary particles which reach the sensitive volume. Results obtained are thus compared with values published in ICRP 74. Neutron fluence in the sensitive volume was calculated for benchmarking. The Monte Carlo GEANT4 code was found to be appropriate to calculate neutron doses at energies below 10 MeV correctly. (author)

Interactions of D-T neutrons in graphite and lithium blankets of fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ofek, R.

1986-05-01

The present study deals with integral experiment and calculation of neutron energy spectra in bulks of graphite which is used as a reflector in blankets of fusion reactors, and lithium, the material of the blanket on which lithium is bred due to neutron interactions. The collimated beam configuration enables - due to the almost monoenergeticity and unidirectionality of the neutrons impinging on the target - to identify fine details in the measured spectra, and also facilitates the absolute normalization of the spectra. The measured and calculated spectra are generally in a good agreement and in a very good agreement at mesh points close to the system axis. A few conclusions may be drawn: a) the collimated beam source configuration is a sensitive tool for measuring neutron energy spectra with a high resolution, b) the method of unfolding proton-recoil spectra measured with a NE-213 scintillator should be improved, c) MCNP and DOT 4.2 may be used as complementary codes for neutron transport calculations of fusion blankets and deep-penetration problems, d) the updating of the cross-section libraries and checking by integral experiments is highly important for the design of fusion blankets. The present study may be regarded as an important course in the research and development of tools for the design of fusion blankets

Generation of monoenergetic ion beams with a laser accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pfotenhauer, Sebastian M.

2009-01-01

A method for the generation of monoenergetic proton and ion beams from a laser-based particle accelerator is presented. This method utilizes the unique space-charge effects occurring during relativistic laser-plasma interactions on solid targets in combination with a dot-like particle source. Due to this unique interaction geometry, MeV proton beams with an intrinsically narrow energy spectrum were obtained, for the first time, from a micrometer-scale laser accelerator. Over the past three years, the acceleration scheme has been consistently improved to enhance both the maximum particle energy and the reliability of the setup. The achieved degree of reliability allowed to derive the first scaling laws specifically for monoenergetic proton beams. Furthermore, the acceleration scheme was expanded on other target materials, enabling the generation of monoenergetic carbon beams. The experimental work was strongly supported by the parallel development of a complex theoretical model, which fully accounts for the observations and is in excellent agreement with numerical simulations. The presented results have an extraordinarily broad scope way beyond the current thesis: The availability of monoenergetic ion beams from a compact laser-plasma beam source - in conjunction with the unique properties of laser-produced particle beams - addresses a number of outstanding applications in fundamental research, material science and medical physics, and will help to shape a new generation of accelerators. (orig.)

Generation of monoenergetic ion beams with a laser accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pfotenhauer, Sebastian M.

2009-01-29

A method for the generation of monoenergetic proton and ion beams from a laser-based particle accelerator is presented. This method utilizes the unique space-charge effects occurring during relativistic laser-plasma interactions on solid targets in combination with a dot-like particle source. Due to this unique interaction geometry, MeV proton beams with an intrinsically narrow energy spectrum were obtained, for the first time, from a micrometer-scale laser accelerator. Over the past three years, the acceleration scheme has been consistently improved to enhance both the maximum particle energy and the reliability of the setup. The achieved degree of reliability allowed to derive the first scaling laws specifically for monoenergetic proton beams. Furthermore, the acceleration scheme was expanded on other target materials, enabling the generation of monoenergetic carbon beams. The experimental work was strongly supported by the parallel development of a complex theoretical model, which fully accounts for the observations and is in excellent agreement with numerical simulations. The presented results have an extraordinarily broad scope way beyond the current thesis: The availability of monoenergetic ion beams from a compact laser-plasma beam source - in conjunction with the unique properties of laser-produced particle beams - addresses a number of outstanding applications in fundamental research, material science and medical physics, and will help to shape a new generation of accelerators. (orig.)

Neutron generator (HIRRAC) and dosimetry study.

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, S; Hoshi, M; Takada, J; Tauchi, H; Matsuura, S; Takeoka, S; Kitagawa, K; Suga, S; Komatsu, K

1999-12-01

Dosimetry studies have been made for neutrons from a neutron generator at Hiroshima University (HIRRAC) which is designed for radiobiological research. Neutrons in an energy range from 0.07 to 2.7 MeV are available for biological irradiations. The produced neutron energies were measured and evaluated by a 3He-gas proportional counter. Energy spread was made certain to be small enough for radiobiological studies. Dose evaluations were performed by two different methods, namely use of tissue equivalent paired ionization chambers and activation of method with indium foils. Moreover, energy deposition spectra in small targets of tissue equivalent materials, so-called lineal energy spectrum, were also measured and are discussed. Specifications for biological irradiation are presented in terms of monoenergetic beam conditions, dose rates and deposited energy spectra.

Calculations of accelerator-based neutron sources characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tertytchnyi, R.G.; Shorin, V.S.

2000-01-01

Accelerator-based quasi-monoenergetic neutron sources (T(p,n), D(d;n), T(d;n) and Li (p,n)-reactions) are widely used in experiments on measuring the interaction cross-sections of fast neutrons with nuclei. The present work represents the code for calculation of the yields and spectra of neutrons generated in (p, n)- and ( d; n)-reactions on some targets of light nuclei (D, T; 7 Li). The peculiarities of the stopping processes of charged particles (with incident energy up to 15 MeV) in multilayer and multicomponent targets are taken into account. The code version is made in terms of the 'SOURCE,' a subroutine for the well-known MCNP code. Some calculation results for the most popular accelerator- based neutron sources are given. (authors)

Personal fast neutrons dosimetry using radiophotoluminescent glass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salem, Y. O.; Nachab, A.; Nourreddine, A.; Roy, C.

2013-06-01

In a previous paper we described a new ambient RPL dosimeter that detects fast neutrons in a mixed n-γ field via (n, p) reactions in a polyethylene converter. In the present study, a personal dosimeter is introduced to enable evaluating the individual dose equivalent H p (10) taking into account the albedo. A calibration factor for estimating H p (10) has been determined from the diminishing angular response as the angle of neutron incidence increases to 60 deg from the normal. MCNPX simulations for 241 Am-Be and 252 Cf neutrons, together with a series of monoenergetic neutron beams from 0.144 to 5 MeV, have been used to characterize the dosimeter response, which agrees well with the experimental 241 Am-Be response. (authors)

The Application of Neutron Transport Green's Functions to Threat Scenario Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Thoreson, Gregory G.; Schneider, Erich A.; Armstrong, Hirotatsu; van der Hoeven, Christopher A.

2015-02-01

Radiation detectors provide deterrence and defense against nuclear smuggling attempts by scanning vehicles, ships, and pedestrians for radioactive material. Understanding detector performance is crucial to developing novel technologies, architectures, and alarm algorithms. Detection can be modeled through radiation transport simulations; however, modeling a spanning set of threat scenarios over the full transport phase-space is computationally challenging. Previous research has demonstrated Green's functions can simulate photon detector signals by decomposing the scenario space into independently simulated submodels. This paper presents decomposition methods for neutron and time-dependent transport. As a result, neutron detector signals produced from full forward transport simulations can be efficiently reconstructed by sequential application of submodel response functions.

Analytical benchmarks for nuclear engineering applications. Case studies in neutron transport theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The developers of computer codes involving neutron transport theory for nuclear engineering applications seldom apply analytical benchmarking strategies to ensure the quality of their programs. A major reason for this is the lack of analytical benchmarks and their documentation in the literature. The few such benchmarks that do exist are difficult to locate, as they are scattered throughout the neutron transport and radiative transfer literature. The motivation for this benchmark compendium, therefore, is to gather several analytical benchmarks appropriate for nuclear engineering applications under one cover. We consider the following three subject areas: neutron slowing down and thermalization without spatial dependence, one-dimensional neutron transport in infinite and finite media, and multidimensional neutron transport in a half-space and an infinite medium. Each benchmark is briefly described, followed by a detailed derivation of the analytical solution representation. Finally, a demonstration of the evaluation of the solution representation includes qualified numerical benchmark results. All accompanying computer codes are suitable for the PC computational environment and can serve as educational tools for courses in nuclear engineering. While this benchmark compilation does not contain all possible benchmarks, by any means, it does include some of the most prominent ones and should serve as a valuable reference. (author)

Neutron transport. Physics and calculation of nuclear reactors with applications to pressurized water reactors and fast neutron reactors. 2 ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bussac, J.; Reuss, P.

1985-01-01

This book presents the main physical bases of neutron theory and nuclear reactor calculation. 1) Interactions of neutrons with matter and basic principles of neutron transport; 2) Neutron transport in homogeneous medium and the neutron field: kinetic behaviour, slowing-down, resonance absorption, diffusion equation, processing methods; 3) Theory of a reactor constituted with homogeneous zones: critical condition, kinetics, separation of variables, calculation and neutron balance of the fundamental mode, one-group and multigroup theories; 4) Study of heterogeneous cell lattices: fast fission factor, resonance absorption, thermal output factor, diffusion coefficient, computer codes; 5) Operation and control of reactors: perturbation theory, reactivity, fuel properties evolution, poisoning by fission products, calculation of a reactor and fuel management; 6) Study of some types of reactors: PWR and fast breeder reactors, the main reactor types of the present French program [fr

Simulations and developments of the Low Energy Neutron detector Array LENA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langer, C.; Algora, A.; Couture, A.; Csatlós, M.; Gulyás, J.; Heil, M.; Krasznahorkay, A.; O'Donnell, J.M.; Plag, R.; Reifarth, R.; Stuhl, L.; Sonnabend, K.; Tornyi, T.; Tovesson, F.

2011-01-01

Prototypes of the Low Energy Neutron detector Array (LENA) have been tested and compared with detailed GEANT simulations. LENA will consist of plastic scintillation bars with the dimensions 1000×45×10 mm 3 . The tests have been performed with γ-ray sources and neutrons originating from the neutron-induced fission of 235 U. The simulations agreed very well with the measured response and were therefore used to simulate the response to mono-energetic neutrons with different detection thresholds. LENA will be used to detect low-energy neutrons from (p,n)-type reactions with low momentum transfer foreseen at the R 3 B and EXL setups at FAIR, Darmstadt.

Solution of Milne problem by Laplace transformation with numerical inversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campos Velho, H.F. de.

1987-12-01

The Milne problem for monoenergetic neutrons, by Laplace Transform of the neutron transport integral equation with numerical inversion of the transformed solution by gaussian quadrature, using the fatorization of the dispersion function. The resulted is solved compared its analitical solution. (author) [pt

Use of GEANT4 vs. MCNPX for the characterization of a boron-lined neutron detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ende, B.M. van der; Atanackovic, J.; Erlandson, A.; Bentoumi, G.

2016-06-01

This work compares GEANT4 with MCNPX in the characterization of a boron-lined neutron detector. The neutron energy ranges simulated in this work (0.025 eV to 20 MeV) are the traditional domain of MCNP simulations. This paper addresses the question, how well can GEANT4 and MCNPX be employed for detailed thermal neutron detector characterization? To answer this, GEANT4 and MCNPX have been employed to simulate detector response to a {sup 252}Cf energy spectrum point source, as well as to simulate mono-energetic parallel beam source geometries. The {sup 252}Cf energy spectrum simulation results demonstrate agreement in detector count rate within 3% between the two packages, with the MCNPX results being generally closer to experiment than are those from GEANT4. The mono-energetic source simulations demonstrate agreement in detector response within 5% between the two packages for all neutron energies, and within 1% for neutron energies between 100 eV and 5 MeV. Cross-checks between the two types of simulations using ISO-8529 {sup 252}Cf energy bins demonstrates that MCNPX results are more self-consistent than are GEANT4 results, by 3–4%.

Measurement of cross sections for the scattering of neutrons in the energy range from 2 MeV to 4 MeV with the {sup 15}N(p,n) reaction as neutron source; Messung von Wirkungsquerschnitten fuer die Streuung von Neutronen im Energiebereich von 2 MeV bis 4 MeV mit der {sup 15}N(p,n)-Reaktion als Neutronenquelle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poenitz, Erik

2010-04-26

In future nuclear facilities, the materials lead and bismuth can play a more important role than in today's nuclear reactors. Reliable cross section data are required for the design of those facilities. In particular the neutron transport in the lead spallation target of an Accelerator-Driven Subcritical Reactor strongly depends on the inelastic neutron scattering cross sections in the energy region from 0.5 MeV to 6 MeV. In the recent 20 years, elastic and inelastic neutron scattering cross sections were measured with high precision for a variety of elements at the PTB time-of-flight spectrometer. The D(d,n) reaction was primarily used for the production of neutrons. Because of the Q value of the reaction and the available deuteron energies, neutrons in the energy range from 6 MeV to 16 MeV can be produced. For the cross section measurement at lower energies, however, another neutron producing reaction is required. The {sup 15}N(p,n){sup 15}O reaction was chosen, as it allows the production of monoenergetic neutrons with up to 5.7MeV energy. In this work, the {sup 15}N(p,n) reaction was studied with focus on the suitability as a source for monoenergetic neutrons in scattering experiments. This includes the measurement of differential cross sections for the neutron producing reaction and the choice of optimum target conditions. Differential elastic and inelastic neutron scattering cross sections were measured for lead at four energies in the region from 2 MeV to 4 MeV incident neutron energy using the time-of-flight technique. A lead sample with natural isotopic composition was used. NE213 liquid scintillation detectors with well-known detection efficiencies were used for the detection of the scattered neutrons. Angle-integrated cross sections were determined by a Legendre polynomial expansion using least-squares methods. Additionally, measurements were carried out for isotopically pure {sup 209}Bi and {sup 181}Ta samples at 4 MeV incident neutron energy

Thermal neutron diffusion parameters dependent on the flux energy distribution in finite hydrogenous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drozdowicz, K.

1999-01-01

Macroscopic parameters for a description of the thermal neutron transport in finite volumes are considered. A very good correspondence between the theoretical and experimental parameters of hydrogenous media is attained. Thermal neutrons in the medium possess an energy distribution, which is dependent on the size (characterized by the geometric buckling) and on the neutron transport properties of the medium. In a hydrogenous material the thermal neutron transport is dominated by the scattering cross section which is strongly dependent on energy. A monoenergetic treatment of the thermal neutron group (admissible for other materials) leads in this case to a discrepancy between theoretical and experimental results. In the present paper the theoretical definitions of the pulsed thermal neutron parameters (the absorption rate, the diffusion coefficient, and the diffusion cooling coefficient) are based on Nelkin's analysis of the decay of a neutron pulse. Problems of the experimental determination of these parameters for a hydrogenous medium are discussed. A theoretical calculation of the pulsed parameters requires knowledge of the scattering kernel. For thermal neutrons it is individual for each hydrogenous material because neutron scattering on hydrogen nuclei bound in a molecule is affected by the molecular dynamics (characterized with internal energy modes which are comparable to the incident neutron energy). Granada's synthetic model for slow-neutron scattering is used. The complete up-dated formalism of calculation of the energy transfer scattering kernel after this model is presented in the paper. An influence of some minor variants within the model on the calculated differential and integral neutron parameters is shown. The theoretical energy-dependent scattering cross section (of Plexiglas) is compared to experimental results. A particular attention is paid to the calculation of the diffusion cooling coefficient. A solution of an equation, which determines the

Effects of fuel particle size distributions on neutron transport in stochastic media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, Chao; Pavlou, Andrew T.; Ji, Wei

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Effects of fuel particle size distributions on neutron transport are evaluated. • Neutron channeling is identified as the fundamental reason for the effects. • The effects are noticeable at low packing and low optical thickness systems. • Unit cells of realistic reactor designs are studied for different size particles. • Fuel particle size distribution effects are not negligible in realistic designs. - Abstract: This paper presents a study of the fuel particle size distribution effects on neutron transport in three-dimensional stochastic media. Particle fuel is used in gas-cooled nuclear reactor designs and innovative light water reactor designs loaded with accident tolerant fuel. Due to the design requirements and fuel fabrication limits, the size of fuel particles may not be perfectly constant but instead follows a certain distribution. This brings a fundamental question to the radiation transport computation community: how does the fuel particle size distribution affect the neutron transport in particle fuel systems? To answer this question, size distribution effects and their physical interpretations are investigated by performing a series of neutron transport simulations at different fuel particle size distributions. An eigenvalue problem is simulated in a cylindrical container consisting of fissile fuel particles with five different size distributions: constant, uniform, power, exponential and Gaussian. A total of 15 parametric cases are constructed by altering the fissile particle volume packing fraction and its optical thickness, but keeping the mean chord length of the spherical fuel particle the same at different size distributions. The tallied effective multiplication factor (k eff ) and the spatial distribution of fission power density along axial and radial directions are compared between different size distributions. At low packing fraction and low optical thickness, the size distribution shows a noticeable effect on neutron

Spectroscopic neutron radiography for a cargo scanning system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahon, Jill [Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Danagoulian, Areg, E-mail: aregjan@mit.edu [Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); MacDonald, Thomas D. [Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Hartwig, Zachary S. [Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Lanza, Richard C. [Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2016-06-01

Detection of cross-border smuggling of illicit materials and contraband is a challenge that requires rapid, low-dose, and efficient radiographic technology. The work we describe here is derived from a technique which uses monoenergetic gamma rays from low energy nuclear reactions, such as {sup 11}B(d,nγ){sup 12}C, to perform radiographic analysis of shipping containers. Transmission ratios of multiple monoenergetic gamma lines resulting from several gamma producing nuclear reactions can be employed to detect materials of high atomic number (Z), the details of which will be described in a separate paper. Inherent in this particular nuclear reaction is the production of fast neutrons which could enable neutron radiography and further characterization of the effective-Z of the cargo, especially within the range of lower Z. Previous research efforts focused on the use of total neutron counts in combination with X-ray radiography to characterize the hydrogenous content of the cargo. We present a technique of performing transmitted neutron spectral analysis to reconstruct the effective Z and potentially the density of the cargo. This is made possible by the large differences in the energy dependence of neutron scattering cross-sections between hydrogenous materials and those of higher Z. These dependencies result in harder transmission spectra for hydrogenous cargoes than those of non-hydrogenous cargoes. Such observed differences can then be used to classify the cargo based on its hydrogenous content. The studies presented in this paper demonstrate that such techniques are feasible and can provide a contribution to cargo security, especially when used in concert with gamma radiography.

Generation of monoenergetic positrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hulett, L.D. Jr.; Dale, J.M.; Miller, P.D. Jr.; Moak, C.D.; Pendyala, S.; Triftshaeuser, W.; Howell, R.H.; Alvarez, R.A.

1983-01-01

Many experiments have been performed in the generation and application of monoenergetic positron beams using annealed tungsten moderators and fast sources of 58 Co, 22 Na, 11 C, and LINAC bremstrahlung. This paper will compare the degrees of success from our various approaches. Moderators made from both single crystal and polycrystal tungsten have been tried. Efforts to grow thin films of tungsten to be used as transmission moderators and brightness enhancement devices are in progress

Neutron slowing-down time in matter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chabod, Sebastien P., E-mail: sebastien.chabod@lpsc.in2p3.fr [LPSC, Universite Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, 38000 Grenoble (France)

2012-03-21

We formulate the neutron slowing-down time through elastic collisions in a homogeneous, non-absorbing, infinite medium. Our approach allows taking into account for the first time the energy dependence of the scattering cross-section as well as the energy and temporal distribution of the source neutron population in the results. Starting from this development, we investigate the specific case of the propagation in matter of a mono-energetic neutron pulse. We then quantify the perturbation on the neutron slowing-down time induced by resonances in the scattering cross-section. We show that a resonance can induce a permanent reduction of the slowing-down time, preceded by two discontinuities: a first one at the resonance peak position and an echo one, appearing later. From this study, we suggest that a temperature increase of the propagating medium in presence of large resonances could modestly accelerate the neutron moderation.

Recent advances in fast neutron radiography for cargo inspection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sowerby, B.D.; Tickner, J.R.

2007-01-01

Fast neutron radiography techniques are attractive for screening cargo for contraband such as narcotics and explosives. Neutrons have the required penetration, they interact with matter in a manner complementary to X-rays and they can be used to determine elemental composition. Compared to neutron interrogation techniques that measure secondary radiation (neutron or gamma-rays), neutron radiography systems are much more efficient and rapid and they are much more amenable to imaging. However, for neutron techniques to be successfully applied to cargo screening, they must demonstrate significant advantages over well-established X-ray techniques. This paper reviews recent developments and applications of fast neutron radiography for cargo inspection. These developments include a fast neutron and gamma-ray radiography system that utilizes a 14 MeV neutron generator as well as fast neutron resonance radiography systems that use variable energy quasi-monoenergetic neutrons and pulsed broad energy neutron beams. These systems will be discussed and compared with particular emphasis on user requirements, sources, detector systems, imaging ability and performance

Laser Acceleration of Quasi-Monoenergetic Protons via Radiation Pressure Driven Thin Foil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Chuan S.; Shao Xi; Liu, T. C.; Dudnikova, Galina; Sagdeev, Roald Z.; Eliasson, Bengt

2011-01-01

We present a theoretical and simulation study of laser acceleration of quasi-monoenergetic protons in a thin foil irradiated by high intensity laser light. The underlying physics of radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) is discussed, including the importance of optimal thickness and circularly polarized light for efficient acceleration of ions to quasi-monoenergetic beams. Preliminary two-dimensional simulation studies show that certain parameter regimes allow for stabilization of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and possibility of acceleration of monoenergetic ions to an excess of 200 MeV, making them suitable for important applications such as medical cancer therapy and fast ignition.

Calculation of neutron albedo from laminated semiinfinite media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobrynin, Yu.L.; Mikaehlyan, L.A.; Skorokhvatov, M.D.

1978-01-01

A version of a laminated neutron detector with increased efficiency for recording external neutron fluxes by gamma-quanta from neutron capture is considered. The detector comprises two zones. The first zone constitutes an absorbent layer (europium oxide) 0.5 cm thick, and the second one is a moderator (water with gadolinium salt at the concentration of 0.8 g/l). Mono-energetic neutrons fall normally onto the detector surface. Neutron energy varied from 0.1 eV to MeV. The results of calculations of the integral numerical current albedo (INCA) of neutrons by the Monte Carlo method are presented. The INCA dependences on neutron energy are obtained for one moderator with different gadolinium contents; for the absorbent with the moderator containing and lacking the gadolinium. The resultant dependences are indicative of preferential capture of neutrons by the gadolinium in the moderator, this being more desirable for recording neutrons in the (n, γ) reaction

KAMCCO, a reactor physics Monte Carlo neutron transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnecke, G.; Borgwaldt, H.; Brandl, V.; Lalovic, M.

1976-06-01

KAMCCO is a 3-dimensional reactor Monte Carlo code for fast neutron physics problems. Two options are available for the solution of 1) the inhomogeneous time-dependent neutron transport equation (census time scheme), and 2) the homogeneous static neutron transport equation (generation cycle scheme). The user defines the desired output, e.g. estimates of reaction rates or neutron flux integrated over specified volumes in phase space and time intervals. Such primary quantities can be arbitrarily combined, also ratios of these quantities can be estimated with their errors. The Monte Carlo techniques are mostly analogue (exceptions: Importance sampling for collision processes, ELP/MELP, Russian roulette and splitting). Estimates are obtained from the collision and track length estimators. Elastic scattering takes into account first order anisotropy in the center of mass system. Inelastic scattering is processed via the evaporation model or via the excitation of discrete levels. For the calculation of cross sections, the energy is treated as a continuous variable. They are computed by a) linear interpolation, b) from optionally Doppler broadened single level Breit-Wigner resonances or c) from probability tables (in the region of statistically distributed resonances). (orig.) [de

Soft error modeling and analysis of the Neutron Intercepting Silicon Chip (NISC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Celik, Cihangir; Unlue, Kenan; Narayanan, Vijaykrishnan; Irwin, Mary J.

2011-01-01

Soft errors are transient errors caused due to excess charge carriers induced primarily by external radiations in the semiconductor devices. Soft error phenomena could be used to detect thermal neutrons with a neutron monitoring/detection system by enhancing soft error occurrences in the memory devices. This way, one can convert all semiconductor memory devices into neutron detection systems. Such a device is being developed at The Pennsylvania State University and named Neutron Intercepting Silicon Chip (NISC). The NISC is envisioning a miniature, power efficient, and active/passive operation neutron sensor/detector system. NISC aims to achieve this goal by introducing 10 B-enriched Borophosphosilicate Glass (BPSG) insulation layers in the semiconductor memories. In order to model and analyze the NISC, an analysis tool using Geant4 as the transport and tracking engine is developed for the simulation of the charged particle interactions in the semiconductor memory model, named NISC Soft Error Analysis Tool (NISCSAT). A simple model with 10 B-enriched layer on top of the lumped silicon region is developed in order to represent the semiconductor memory node. Soft error probability calculations were performed via the NISCSAT with both single node and array configurations to investigate device scaling by using different node dimensions in the model. Mono-energetic, mono-directional thermal and fast neutrons are used as the neutron sources. Soft error contribution due to the BPSG layer is also investigated with different 10 B contents and the results are presented in this paper.

Normal scheme for solving the transport equation independently of spatial discretization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zamonsky, O.M.

1993-01-01

To solve the discrete ordinates neutron transport equation, a general order nodal scheme is used, where nodes are allowed to have different orders of approximation and the whole system reaches a final order distribution. Independence in the election of system discretization and order of approximation is obtained without loss of accuracy. The final equations and the iterative method to reach a converged order solution were implemented in a two-dimensional computer code to solve monoenergetic, isotropic scattering, external source problems. Two benchmark problems were solved using different automatic selection order methods. Results show accurate solutions without spatial discretization, regardless of the initial selection of distribution order. (author)

NeuLAND MRPC-based detector prototypes tested with fast neutrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caesar, C., E-mail: c.caesar@gsi.de [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany); Aumann, T. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany); Bemmerer, D. [Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany); Boretzky, K. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany); Elekes, Z. [Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany); ATOMKI, Debrecen (Hungary); Gonzalez-Diaz, D.; Hehner, J.; Heil, M. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany); Kempe, M. [Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany); Maroussov, V. [Universitaet zu Koeln, Koeln (Germany); Nusair, O. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany); Al-Balqa Applied University, Salt (Jordan); Reifarth, R.; Rossi, D.; Simon, H. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany); Stach, D.; Wagner, A.; Yakorev, D. [Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden (Germany); Zilges, A. [ATOMKI, Debrecen (Hungary)

2012-01-01

Recent results from a first irradiation of multi-gap resistive plate chambers with fast neutrons are presented. The counters have been built at GSI and FZD. The experiment was performed at the 'The Svedberg Laboratory' (TSL) in Uppsala, Sweden, utilizing a quasi-monoenergetic neutron beam with an energy E{sub n}=175 MeV. For a 2 Multiplication-Sign 4 gap prototype operated at E=100 kV/cm, an efficiency of (0.77 {+-}0.33)% was measured.

Neutron spectra produced by moderating an isotopic neutron source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrillo Nunnez, Aureliano; Vega Carrillo, Hector Rene

2001-01-01

A Monte Carlo study has been carried out to determine the neutron spectra produced by an isotopic neutron source inserted in moderating media. Most devices used for radiation protection have a response strongly dependent on neutron energy. ISO recommends several neutron sources and monoenergetic neutron radiations, but actual working situations have broad spectral neutron distributions extending from thermal to MeV energies, for instance, near nuclear power plants, medical applications accelerators and cosmic neutrons. To improve the evaluation of the dosimetric quantities, is recommended to calibrate the radiation protection devices in neutron spectra which are nearly like those met in practice. In order to complete the range of neutron calibrating sources, it seems useful to develop several wide spectral distributions representative of typical spectra down to thermal energies. The aim of this investigation was to use an isotopic neutron source in different moderating media to reproduce some of the neutron fields found in practice. MCNP code has been used during calculations, in these a 239PuBe neutron source was inserted in H2O, D2O and polyethylene moderators. Moderators were modeled as spheres and cylinders of different sizes. In the case of cylindrical geometry the anisotropy of resulting neutron spectra was calculated from 0 to 2 . From neutron spectra dosimetric features were calculated. MCNP calculations were validated by measuring the neutron spectra of a 239PuBe neutron source inserted in a H2O cylindrical moderator. The measurements were carried out with a multisphere neutron spectrometer with a 6LiI(Eu) scintillator. From the measurements the neutron spectrum was unfolded using the BUNKIUT code and the UTA4 response matrix. Some of the moderators with the source produce a neutron spectrum close to spectra found in actual applications, then can be used during the calibration of radiation protection devices

Measurement of neutron inelastic scattering cross section of {sup 238}U

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miura, Takako; Baba, Mamoru; Ibaraki, Masanobu; Sanami, Toshiya; Win, Than; Hirasawa, Yoshitaka; Matsuyama, Shigeo; Hirakawa, Naohiro [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan)

1998-03-01

Neutron scattering from the 0{sup +}, 2{sup +} (1-st) and 4{sup +} (2nd) levels of {sup 238}U was measured for incident energies between 0.4 and 0.85 MeV at the Tohoku University 4.5 MV Dynamitron facility, using the time-of-flight (TOF) method with monoenergetic pulsed neutrons by the {sup 7}Li(p,n) reaction. The results are presented in comparison with other experimental data and evaluated data. (author)

New methods in linear transport theory. Part of a coordinated programme on methods in neutron transport theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mika, J.

1975-09-01

Originally the work was oriented towards two main topics: a) difference and integral methods in neutron transport theory. Two computers were used for numerical calculations GIER and CYBER-72. During the first year the main effort was shifted towards basic theoretical investigations. At the first step the ANIS code was adopted and later modified to check various finite difference approaches against each other. Then the general finite element method and the singular perturbation method were developed. The analysis of singularities of the one-dimensional neutron transport equation in spherical geometry has been done and presented. Later the same analysis for the case of cylindrical symmetry has been carried out. The second and the third year programme included the following topics: 1) finite difference methods in stationary neutron transport theory; 2)mathematical fundamentals of approximate methods for solving the transport equation; 3) singular perturbation method for the time-dependent transport equation; 4) investigation of various iterative procedures in reactor calculations. This investigation will help to better understanding of the mathematical basis for existing and developed numerical methods resulting in more effective algorithms for reactor computer codes

Application of direct discrete method (DDM) to multigroup neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vosoughi, Naser; Salehi, Ali Akbar; Shahriari, Majid

2003-01-01

The Direct Discrete Method (DDM), which produced excellent results for one-group neutron transport problems, has been developed for multigroup energy. A multigroup neutron transport discrete equation has been produced for a cylindrical shape fuel element with and without associated coolant regions with two boundary conditions. The calculations are illustrated for two-group energy by graphs showing the fast and thermal fluxes. The validity of the results are tested against the results obtained by the ANISN code. (author)

Measurements of Relative Biological Effectiveness and Oxygen Enhancement Ratio of Fast Neutrons of Different Energies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barendsen, G. W.; Broerse, J. J. [Radiobiological Institute of the Health Research Council TNO, Rijswijk (ZH) (Netherlands)

1968-03-15

Impairment of the reproductive capacity of cultured cells of human kidney origin (T-l{sub g} cells) has been measured by the Puck cloning technique. From the dose-survival curves obtained in these experiments by irradiation of cells in equilibrium with air and nitrogen, respectively, the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) and the oxygen enhancement ratios (OER) were determined for different beams of fast neutrons. Monoenergetic neutrons of 3 and 15 MeV energy, fission spectrum fast neutrons (mean energy about 1.5 MeV), neutrons produced by bombarding Be with cyclotron-accelerated 16 MeV deuterons (mean energy about 6 MeV) and neutrons produced by bombarding Be with cyclotron- accelerated 20 MeV {sup 3}He ions (mean energy about 10 MeV) have been compared with 250 kVp X-rays as a standard reference. The RBE for 50% cell survival varies from 4.7 for fission-spectrum fast neutrons to 2.7 for 15 MeV monoenergetic neutrons. The OER is not strongly dependent on the neutron energy for the various beams investigated. For the neutrons with the highest and lowest energies used OER values of 1.6 {+-} 0.2 and 1.5 {+-} 0.1 were measured. An interpretation of these data on the basis of the shapes of the LET spectra is proposed and an approximate verification of this hypothesis is provided from measurements in which secondary particle equilibrium was either provided for or deliberately eliminated. (author)

A {mu}TPC detector for the characterization of low energy neutron fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Golabek, C., E-mail: cedric.golabek@irsn.fr [Laboratoire de Metrologie et de Dosimetrie des Neutrons, IRSN Cadarache, 13115 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Billard, J. [Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Universite Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, 53 rue des Martyrs, 38026 Grenoble (France); Allaoua, A. [Laboratoire de Metrologie et de Dosimetrie des Neutrons, IRSN Cadarache, 13115 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Bosson, G.; Bourrion, O.; Grignon, C.; Guillaudin, O. [Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Universite Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, 53 rue des Martyrs, 38026 Grenoble (France); Lebreton, L., E-mail: lena.lebreton@irsn.fr [Laboratoire de Metrologie et de Dosimetrie des Neutrons, IRSN Cadarache, 13115 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Mayet, F. [Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Universite Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, 53 rue des Martyrs, 38026 Grenoble (France); Petit, M. [Laboratoire de Metrologie et de Dosimetrie des Neutrons, IRSN Cadarache, 13115 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Richer, J.-P.; Santos, D. [Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Universite Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, 53 rue des Martyrs, 38026 Grenoble (France)

2012-06-21

The AMANDE facility produces monoenergetic neutron fields from 2 keV to 20 MeV for metrological purposes. To be considered as a reference facility, fluence and energy distributions of neutron fields have to be determined by primary measurement standards. For this purpose, a micro Time Projection Chamber is being developed to be dedicated to measure neutron fields with energy ranging from 8 keV up to 1 MeV. In this work we present simulations showing that such a detector, which allows the measurement of the ionization energy and the 3D reconstruction of the recoil nucleus, provides the determination of neutron energy and fluence of these neutron fields.

Production of a pulseable fission-like neutron flux using a monoenergetic 14 MeV neutron generator and a depleted uranium reflector

Science.gov (United States)

Koltick, D.; McConchie, S.; Sword, E.

2008-04-01

The design and performance of a pulseable neutron source utilizing a D-T neutron generator and a depleted uranium reflector are presented. Approximately half the generator's 14 MeV neutron flux is used to produce a fission-like neutron spectrum similar to 252Cf. For every 14 MeV neutron entering the reflector, more than one fission-like neutron is reflected back across the surface of the reflector. Because delayed neutron production is more than two orders of magnitude below the prompt neutron production, the source takes full advantage of the generator's pulsed mode capability. Applications include all elemental characterization systems using neutron-induced gamma-ray spectroscopy. The source simultaneously emits 14 MeV neutrons optimal to excite fast neutron-induced gamma-ray signals, such as from carbon and oxygen, and fission-like neutrons optimal to induce neutron capture gamma-ray signals, such as from hydrogen, nitrogen, and chlorine. Experiments were performed, which compare well to Monte Carlo simulations, showing that the uranium reflector enhances capture signals by up to a factor of 15 compared to the absence of a reflector.

Transport calculation of neutron flux distribution in reflector of PW reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Remec, I.

1982-01-01

Two-dimensional transport calculation of the neutron flux and spectrum in the equatorial plain of PW reactor, using computer program DOT 3, is presented. Results show significant differences between neutron fields in which test samples and reactor vessel are exposed. (author)

The importance of anisotropic scattering in high energy neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prillinger, G.; Mattes, M.

1984-01-01

To describe the highly anisotropic scattering of very fast neutrons adequately the transport code ANISN has been improved. Fokker-Planck terms have been introduced into the transport equation which accurately describe the small changes in energy and angle. The new code has been tested for a d(50)-Be neutron source in a deep penetration iron problem. The influence of the forward peaked elastic scattering on the fast neutron spectrum is shown to be significant and can be handled efficiently in the new ANISN version. Since common cross-section libraries are limited by Legendre expansion, or by their upper energy boundary, or exclude elastic scattering above 20 MeV a special library has been created. (Auth.)

Interfacing MCNPX and McStas for simulation of neutron transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klinkby, Esben Bryndt; Lauritzen, Bent; Nonbøl, Erik

2013-01-01

Stas[4, 5, 6, 7]. The coupling between the two simulation suites typically consists of providing analytical fits of MCNPX neutron spectra to McStas. This method is generally successful but has limitations, as it e.g. does not allow for re-entry of neutrons into the MCNPX regime. Previous work to resolve......Simulations of target-moderator-reflector system at spallation sources are conventionally carried out using Monte Carlo codes such as MCNPX[1] or FLUKA[2, 3] whereas simulations of neutron transport from the moderator and the instrument response are performed by neutron ray tracing codes such as Mc...... geometries, backgrounds, interference between beam-lines as well as shielding requirements along the neutron guides....

Solution of unidimensional problems from monoenergetics neutrons diffusion through finite differences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filio Lopez, Carlos.

1979-01-01

A calculation program (URA 6.F4) was elaborated on FORTRAN IV language, that through finite differences solves the unidimensional scalar Helmholtz equation, assuming only one energy group, in spherical cylindrical or plane geometry. The purpose is the determination of the flow distribution in a reactor of spherical cylindrical or plane geometry and the critical dimensions. Feeding as entrance datas to the program the geometry, diffusion coefficients and macroscopic transversals cross sections of absorption and fission for each region. The differential diffusion equation is converted with its boundary conditions, to one system of homogeneous algebraic linear equations using the box integration technique. The investigation on criticality is converted then in a succession of eigenvalue problems for the critical eigenvalue. In general, only is necessary to solve the first eigenvalue and its corresponding eigenvector, employing the power method. The obtained results by the program for the critical dimensions of the clean reactors are admissible, the existing error as respect to the analytic is less of 0.5%; by the analysed reactors of three regions, the relative error with respect to the semianalytic result is less of 0.2%. With this program is possible to obtain one quantitative description of one reactor if the transversal sections that appears in the monoenergetic model are adequatedly averaged by the energy group used. (author)

Fast neutron detection by means of an organic solid state track detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doerschel, B.; Streubel, G.

1980-01-01

Solid state track detectors consisting of cellulose triacetate foils are appropriate for measuring the fast neutron fluence without applying external radiators. Detector sensitivity has been determined as a function of neutron energy by performing irradiations with various neutron sources and monoenergetic neutrons of different energies. A comparison with theoretical results given in the literature for a simple model of track recording has shown sufficient agreement. The measuring errors and the influence of spectral changes in the neutron field on detector response are discussed for the studied method of fluence measurement. By means of these errors the measuring range has been determined for well defined irradiation conditions, taking into account spectral changes in the neutron field. (author)

Exploratory study of fission product yield determination from photofission of 239Pu at 11 MeV with monoenergetic photons

Science.gov (United States)

Bhike, Megha; Tornow, W.; Krishichayan, Tonchev, A. P.

2017-02-01

Measurements of fission product yields play an important role for the understanding of fundamental aspects of the fission process. Recently, neutron-induced fission product-yield data of 239Pu at energies below 4 MeV revealed an unexpected energy dependence of certain fission fragments. In order to investigate whether this observation is prerogative to neutron-induced fission, a program has been initiated to measure fission product yields in photoinduced fission. Here we report on the first ever photofission product yield measurement with monoenergetic photons produced by Compton back-scattering of FEL photons. The experiment was performed at the High-Intensity Gamma-ray Source at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory on 239Pu at Eγ=11 MeV. In this exploratory study the yield of eight fission products ranging from 91Sr to 143Ce has been obtained.

Characterizing Scintillator Response with Neutron Time-of-Flight

Science.gov (United States)

Palmisano, Kevin; Visca, Hannah; Caves, Louis; Wilkinson, Corey; McClow, Hannah; Padalino, Stephen; Forrest, Chad; Katz, Joe; Sangster, Craig; Regan, Sean

2017-10-01

Neutron scintillator diagnostics for ICF can be characterized using the neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) line on Geneseo's 1.7 MV Tandem Pelletron Accelerator. Neutron signals can be differentiated from gamma signals by employing a coincidence method called the associated particle technique (APT). In this measurement, a 2.1 MeV beam of deuterons incident on a deuterated polyethylene target produces neutrons via the d(d,n)3He reaction. A BC-412 plastic scintillator, placed at a scattering angle of 152º, detects 1.76 MeV neutrons in coincidence with the 2.56 MeV 3He ions at an associated angle of 10º. The APT is used to identify the 1.76 MeV neutron while the nTOF line determines its energy. By gating only mono-energetic neutrons, the instrument response function of the scintillator can be determined free from background scattered neutrons and gamma rays. Funded in part by a Grant from the DOE, through the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Calculation of X-ray emission produced by a quasi-monoenergetic electron distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fanaei, M.; Sadighi-Bonabi, R.

2010-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. By using an intense ultrafast laser interaction with plasma, generation of accelerated relativistic electrons with quasi monoenergetic spectrum has been possible. Analytic expressions for spectra and emission efficiencies of x-rays bremsstrahlung and characteristic line emission produced by a quasi-monoenergetic electron distribution from several targets are investigated. In this work, a Gaussian profile is assumed for the quasi-monoenergetic electron spectrum. The produced x-ray radiations are compared with the previous achieved results for a Maxwellian electron profile. These results and achievements are discussed in detail. Also, the outcomes can be evaluated with the experimental and simulated results.

Summary of personal neutron dosemeter results obtained within the EVIDOS project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luszik-Bhadra, M.; Reginatto, M.; Schuhmacher, H.; Bolognese-Milsztajn, T.; Lacoste, V.; Boschung, M.; Fiechtner, A.; Coeck, M.; Vanhavere, F.; Curzio, G.; Errico d', F.; Kylloenen, J.-E.; Lindborg, L.; Bartlett, D.; Tanner, R.

2005-01-01

Full text: Within the EC project EVIDOS ('Evaluation of Individual Dosimetry in Mixed Neutron and Photon Radiation Fields'), different types of neutron personal dosemeters were irradiated in workplace fields in nuclear installations in Europe. Mostly electronic personal neutron dosemeters were tested, among them commercial devices (Thermo Electron EPD-N, Aloka PDM-313), devices from first industrial prototype series (Thermo Electron EPD-N2, Saphydose-n) and laboratory prototypes which were already in the stage of lightweight battery-operated instruments (PTB DOS-2002). In addition, dosemeters with (almost) immediate readout (BTI bubble detectors, Rados DIS-N) and passive dosemeters which needed no fielddependent calibration factors (PADC track detectors from PSI and NRPB) were used, as well as those TLD albedo dosemeters which are routinely used in the facilities visited. The results of measurements obtained within the EVIDOS project in workplace fields in nuclear installations in Europe, i.e. at Kruemmel (boiling water reactor, transport cask), at Mol (Venus research reactor, fuel facility Belgonucleaire) and at Ringhals (pressurized water reactor, transport cask) are presented and compared to reference values of personal dose equivalent H p (10) determined by means of Bonner spheres and novel directional spectrometers. In fields with strong back-scatter and moderation of neutrons, several dosemeters showed overreadings by more than a factor of two. In strongly directed fields with neutron dose equivalent peaked at about 1 MeV (MOX fuel), the same dosemeters showed under-readings of about a factor of two. These under- and over-readings in the workplace fields can be explained in terms of the dosemeter response functions for mono-energetic neutrons, which show over-responses in the thermal and intermediate neutron energy region and under-responses at about 1 MeV neutron energy. The dosemeter readings obtained in the workplace fields were checked for consistency by

AUS, Neutron Transport and Gamma Transport System for Fission Reactors and Fusion Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: AUS is a neutronics code system which may be used for calculations of a wide range of fission reactors, fusion blankets and other neutron applications. The present version, AUS98, has a nuclear cross section library based on ENDF/B-VI and includes modules which provide for reactor lattice calculations, one-dimensional transport calculations, multi-dimensional diffusion calculations, cell and whole reactor burnup calculations, and flexible editing of results. Calculations of multi-region resonance shielding, coupled neutron and photon transport, energy deposition, fission product inventory and neutron diffusion are combined within the one code system. The major changes from the previous release, AUS87, are the inclusion of a cross-section library based on ENDF/B-VI, the addition of the POW3D multi-dimensional diffusion module, the addition of the MICBURN module for controlling whole reactor burnup calculations, and changes to the system as a consequence of moving from IBM mainframe computers to UNIX workstations. 2 - Method of solution: AUS98 is a modular system in which the modules are complete programs linked by a path given in the input stream. A simple path is simply a sequence of modules, but the path is actually pre-processed and compiled using the Fortran 77 compiler. This provides for complex module linking if required. Some of the modules included in AUS98 are: MIRANDA Cross-section generation in a multi-region resonance subgroup calculation and preliminary group condensation. ANAUSN One-dimensional discrete ordinates calculation. ICPP Isotropic collision probability calculation in one dimension and for rod clusters. POW3D Multi-dimensional neutron diffusion calculation including feedback-free kinetics. AUSIDD One-dimensional diffusion calculation. EDITAR Reaction-rate editing and group collapsing following a transport calculation. CHAR Lattice and global burnup calculation. MICBURN Control of global burnup

Study on MPI/OpenMP hybrid parallelism for Monte Carlo neutron transport code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang Jingang; Xu Qi; Wang Kan; Liu Shiwen

2013-01-01

Parallel programming with mixed mode of messages-passing and shared-memory has several advantages when used in Monte Carlo neutron transport code, such as fitting hardware of distributed-shared clusters, economizing memory demand of Monte Carlo transport, improving parallel performance, and so on. MPI/OpenMP hybrid parallelism was implemented based on a one dimension Monte Carlo neutron transport code. Some critical factors affecting the parallel performance were analyzed and solutions were proposed for several problems such as contention access, lock contention and false sharing. After optimization the code was tested finally. It is shown that the hybrid parallel code can reach good performance just as pure MPI parallel program, while it saves a lot of memory usage at the same time. Therefore hybrid parallel is efficient for achieving large-scale parallel of Monte Carlo neutron transport. (authors)

Fast neutron radiation inactivation of Bacillus subtilis: Absorbed dose determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Lingli; Zheng Chun; Ai Zihui; Li Junjie; Dai Shaofeng

2011-01-01

In this paper, fast neutron inactivation effects of Bacillus subtilis were investigated with fission fast neutrons from CFBR-II reactor of INPC (Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry) and mono-energetic neutrons from the Van de Graaff accelerator at Peking University. The method for determining the absorbed dose in the Bacillus subtilis suspension contained in test tubes is introduced. The absorbed dose, on account of its dependence on the volume and the form of confined state, was determined by combined experiments and Monte Carlo method. Using the calculation results of absorbed dose, the fast neutron inactivation effects on Bacillus subtilis were studied. The survival rates and absorbed dose curve was constructed. (authors)

Continuous energy adjoint Monte Carlo for coupled neutron-photon transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoogenboom, J.E. [Delft Univ. of Technology (Netherlands). Interfaculty Reactor Inst.

2001-07-01

Although the theory for adjoint Monte Carlo calculations with continuous energy treatment for neutrons as well as for photons is known, coupled neutron-photon transport problems present fundamental difficulties because of the discrete energies of the photons produced by neutron reactions. This problem was solved by forcing the energy of the adjoint photon to the required discrete value by an adjoint Compton scattering reaction or an adjoint pair production reaction. A mathematical derivation shows the exact procedures to follow for the generation of an adjoint neutron and its statistical weight. A numerical example demonstrates that correct detector responses are obtained compared to a standard forward Monte Carlo calculation. (orig.)

Application of Walsh functions to neutron transport problems. I. Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seed, T.J.; Albrecht, R.W.

1976-01-01

An approximation to the neutron transport equation is made by representing the angular flux with an expansion of the angular dependence in the orthogonal, complete, and binary valued sets of Walsh function. The Walsh approximation is applied to the one-speed, isotropic-scattering, rectangular-geometry form of the neutron transport equation. Sets of partial differential equations for the expansion coefficients are derived along with appropriate boundary conditions for their solution. The sets of the Walsh expansion to one- and two-dimensional forms of the transport equation are also obtained. The two-dimensional expansion coefficient equations are shown to be not only hyperbolic but also transformable to a set of S/sub N/-like equations that are coupled only through the scattering term. Such transformal sets of equations are termed Walsh-derived quadrature sets

Improvement of neutron collimator design for thermal neutron radiography using Monte Carlo N-particle transport code version 5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thiagu Supramaniam

2007-01-01

The aim of this research was to propose a new neutron collimator design for thermal neutron radiography facility using tangential beam port of PUSPATI TRIGA Mark II reactor, Malaysia Institute of Nuclear Technology Research (MINT). Best geometry and materials for neutron collimator were chosen in order to obtain a uniform beam with maximum thermal neutron flux, high L/ D ratio, high neutron to gamma ratio and low beam divergence with high resolution. Monte Carlo N-particle Transport Code version 5 (MCNP 5) was used to optimize six neutron collimator components such as beam port medium, neutron scatterer, neutron moderator, gamma filter, aperture and collimator wall. The reactor and tangential beam port setup in MCNP5 was plotted according to its actual sizes. A homogeneous reactor core was assumed and population control method of variance reduction technique was applied by using cell importance. The comparison between experimental results and simulated results of the thermal neutron flux measurement of the bare tangential beam port, shows that both graph obtained had similar pattern. This directly suggests the reliability of MCNP5 in order to obtained optimal neutron collimator parameters. The simulated results of the optimal neutron medium, shows that vacuum was the best medium to transport neutrons followed by helium gas and air. The optimized aperture component was boral with 3 cm thickness. The optimal aperture center hole diameter was 2 cm which produces 88 L/ D ratio. Simulation also shows that graphite neutron scatterer improves thermal neutron flux while reducing fast neutron flux. Neutron moderator was used to moderate fast and epithermal neutrons in the beam port. Paraffin wax with 90 cm thick was bound to be the best neutron moderator material which produces the highest thermal neutron flux at the image plane. Cylindrical shape high density polyethylene neutron collimator produces the highest thermal neutron flux at the image plane rather than divergent

Killing symmetries in neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lukacs, B.; Racz, A.

1992-10-01

Although inside the reactor zone there is no exact continuous spatial symmetry, in certain configurations neutron flux distribution is close to a symmetrical one. In such cases the symmetrical solution could provide a good starting point to determine the non-symmetrical power distribution. All possible symmetries are determined in the 3-dimensional Euclidean space, and the form of the transport equation is discussed in such a coordinate system which is adapted to the particular symmetry. Possible spontaneous symmetry breakings are pointed out. (author) 6 refs

On generating neutron transport tables with the NJOY system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caldeira, Alexandre D.; Claro, Luiz H.

2013-01-01

Incorrect values for the product of the average number of neutrons released per fission and the fission microscopic cross-section were detected in several energy groups of a neutron transport table generated with the most updated version of the NJOY system. It was verified that the problem persists when older versions of this system are utilized. Although this problem exists for, at least, ten years, it is still an open question. (author)

Laser Radiation Pressure Accelerator for Quasi-Monoenergetic Proton Generation and Its Medical Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, C. S.; Shao, X.; Liu, T. C.; Su, J. J.; He, M. Q.; Eliasson, B.; Tripathi, V. K.; Dudnikova, G.; Sagdeev, R. Z.; Wilks, S.; Chen, C. D.; Sheng, Z. M.

Laser radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) of ultrathin foils of subwavelength thickness provides an efficient means of quasi-monoenergetic proton generation. With an optimal foil thickness, the ponderomotive force of the intense short-pulse laser beam pushes the electrons to the edge of the foil, while balancing the electric field due to charge separation. The electron and proton layers form a self-organized plasma double layer and are accelerated by the radiation pressure of the laser, the so-called light sail. However, the Rayleigh-Taylor instability can limit the acceleration and broaden the energy of the proton beam. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations have shown that the formation of finger-like structures due to the nonlinear evolution of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability limits the acceleration and leads to a leakage of radiation through the target by self-induced transparency. We here review the physics of quasi-monoenergetic proton generation by RPA and recent advances in the studies of energy scaling of RPA, and discuss the RPA of multi-ion and gas targets. The scheme for generating quasi-monoenergetic protons with RPA has the potential of leading to table-top accelerators as sources for producing monoenergetic 50-250 MeV protons. We also discuss potential medical implications, such as particle therapy for cancer treatment, using quasi-monoenergetic proton beams generated from RPA. Compact monoenergetic ion sources also have applications in many other areas such as high-energy particle physics, space electronics radiation testing, and fast ignition in laser fusion.

Prompt gamma-based neutron dosimetry for Am-Be and other workplace neutron spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Udupi, Ashwini; Panikkath, Priyada; Sarkar, P.K.

2016-01-01

A new field-deployable technique for estimating the neutron ambient dose equivalent H*(10) by using the measured prompt gamma intensities emitted from borated high-density polyethylene (BHDPE) and the combination of normal HDPE and BHDPE with different configurations have been evaluated in this work. Monte Carlo simulations using the FLUKA code has been employed to calculate the responses from the prompt gammas emitted due to the monoenergetic neutrons interacting with boron, hydrogen, and carbon nuclei. A suitable linear combination of these prompt gamma responses (dose conversion coefficient (DCC)-estimated) is generated to approximate the International Commission on Radiological Protection provided DCC using the cross-entropy minimization technique. In addition, the shape and configurations of the HDPE and BHDPE combined system are optimized using the FLUKA code simulation results. The proposed method is validated experimentally, as well as theoretically, using different workplace neutron spectra with a satisfactory outcome. (author)

Neutron area monitor with TLD pairs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzman G, K. A.; Borja H, C. G.; Valero L, C.; Hernandez D, V. M.; Vega C, H. R.

2011-11-01

The response of a passive neutron area monitor with pairs of thermoluminescent dosimeters has been calculated using the Monte Carlo code MCNP5. The response was calculated for one TLD 600 located at the center of a polyethylene cylinder, as moderator. When neutrons collide with the moderator lose their energy reaching the TLD with thermal energies where the ambient dose equivalent is calculated. The response was calculated for 47 monoenergetic neutron sources ranging from 1E(-9) to 20 MeV. Response was calculated using two irradiation geometries, one with an upper source and another with a lateral source. For both irradiation schemes the response was calculated with the TLDs in two positions, one parallel to the source and another perpendicular to the source. The advantage of this passive neutron monitor area is that can be used in locations with intense, pulsed and mixed radiation fields. (Author)

Study of a transportable neutron radiography system; Estudo de um sistema neutrongrafico transportavel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Souza, S N.A. de

1991-05-01

This work presents a study a transportable neutron radiography system for a 185 GBq {sup 241} Am-Be ({alpha}, {eta}) source with a neutron yield roughly 1,25 x 10{sup 7} n/s. Studies about moderation, collimation and shielding are showed. In these studies, a calculation using Transport Theory was carried out by means of transport codes ANISN and DOT (3.5). Objectives were: to obtain a maximum and more homogeneous thermal neutron flux in the collimator outlet to the image plain, and an adequate radiation shielding to attend radiological protection rules. With the presented collimator, it was possible to obtain for the thermal neutron flux, at the collimator outlet and next to the image plain, a L/D ratio of 14, for neutron fluxes up to 4,09 x 10{sup 2} n.cm{sup -2}.s{sup -1}. Considering the low intensity of the source, it is a good value. Studies have also been carried out for L/D ratios of 22 and 30, giving thermal neutron fluxes at the image plain of 1,27 x 10{sup 2} n.cm{sup -2}.s{sup -1} and 2,65 x 10{sup 2} n.cm{sup -2}.s{sup -1}, respectively. (author). 30 refs, 39 figs, 9 tabs.

Theoretical analysis of nuclear reactors (Phase II), I-V, Part V, Determining the fine neutron flux distribution by Pn method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pop-Jordanov, J.

1962-10-01

Expression for spherical harmonic moments were applied. They were obtained by spherical harmonics expansion of monoenergetic transport equation. This report presents the procedure for calculating the neutron flux distribution in the nine-zone reactor cell of the RA reactor in Vinca. The procedure was modelled for digital computer ZUSE Z-23 by expansion of the diagram of the automated P 3 code, which is adequate for P n code with minor changes. The needed subroutines were developed. The most important ones were those for modified first and second order Bessel functions of n-th order. Computer Z-23 was operating only 15 hours during three months, and thus only the subroutines for modified Bessel functions could be tested and the obtained results were excellent. For the mentioned reason the neutron flux distribution will be calculated in the forthcoming period [sr

Measurement and simulation of neutron response function of organic liquid scintillator detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohil, M.; Banerjee, K.; Bhattacharya, S.; Bhattacharya, C.; Kundu, S.; Rana, T.K.; Mukherjee, G.; Meena, J.K.; Pandey, R.; Pai, H.; Ghosh, T.K.; Dey, A.; Mukhopadhyay, S.; Pandit, D.; Pal, S.; Banerjee, S.R.; Bandhopadhyay, T.

2012-01-01

Response functions of monoenergetic neutrons at various energies, corresponding to a measured neutron energy spectrum have been extracted. The experimental response functions for neutron energies in the range of ∼2-20 MeV have been compared with the respective GEANT4 predictions. It has been found that, there is some discrepancy between the experimental and the GEANT4 simulated neutron response functions at lower pulse height regions, which increases with the increase of neutron energy. This might be due to the incompleteness of the physics processes used in the present GEANT4 simulations. In particular, higher order reaction processes which become more significant at higher energies should be properly taken into account in the calculation of response function.

The spectral element method for static neutron transport in AN approximation. Part I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbarino, A.; Dulla, S.; Mund, E.H.; Ravetto, P.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Spectral elements methods (SEMs) are extended for the neutronics of nuclear reactor cores. ► The second-order, A N formulation of neutron trasport is adopted. ► Results for classical benchmark cases in 2D are presented and compared to finite elements. ► The advantages of SEM in terms of precision and convergence rate are illustrated. ► SEM consitutes a promising approach for the solution of neutron transport problems. - Abstract: Spectral elements methods provide very accurate solutions of elliptic problems. In this paper we apply the method to the A N (i.e. SP 2N−1 ) approximation of neutron transport. Numerical results for classical benchmark cases highlight its performance in comparison with finite element computations, in terms of accuracy per degree of freedom and convergence rate. All calculations presented in this paper refer to two-dimensional problems. The method can easily be extended to three-dimensional cases. The results illustrate promising features of the method for more complex transport problems

Numerical solution of neutron transport equations in discrete ordinates and slab geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serrano Pedraza, F.

1985-01-01

An unified formalism to solve numerically, between other equation, the neutron transport in discrete ordinates, slab geometry, several energy groups and independents of time, has been developed recently. Such a formalism cover some of the conventional schemes as diamond difference, (WDD) characteristic step (SC) lineal characteristic (LC), quadratic characteristic (QC) and lineal discontinuous. Unified formation gives before hand the convergence order of the previously selected scheme. In fact it allows besides to generate a big amount of numerical schemes, with which is also possible to solve numerical equations as soon as neutron transport. The essential purpose of this work was to solve the neutron transport equations in slab geometry and discrete ordinates considering several energy groups without to take under advisement time dependence based in the above mentioned unified formalism. To reach this purpose it was necesary to design a computer code with the name TNOD1 (Neutron transport in discrete ordinates and 1 dimension) which includes each one of the schemes already pointed out. there exist two numerical schemes, also recently developed, quadratic continuous (QC) and cubic continuous (CN), although covered by unified formalism, it has been possible to include them inside this computer code without make substantial changes in its structure. In chapter I, derivative of neutron transport equation independent of time is taken, for angular flux, including boundary conditions and discontinuity. In chapter II the neutron transport equations are obtained in multigroups, independents of time, for approximation of discrete ordinates. Description of theory related with unified formalism and its relationship with mentioned discretization schemes is presented in chapter III. Chapter IV describes the computer code developed and finally, in chapter V different numerical results obtained with TNOD1 program are shown. In Appendix A theorems and mathematical arguments used

Considerations in the design of an improved transportable neutron spectrometer

CERN Document Server

Williams, A M; Brushwood, J M; Beeley, P A

2002-01-01

The Transportable Neutron Spectrometer (TNS) has been used by the Ministry of Defence for over 15 years to characterise neutron fields in workplace environments and provide local correction factors for both area and personal dosimeters. In light of advances in neutron spectrometry, a programme to evaluate and improve TNS has been initiated. This paper describes TNS, presents its operation in known radioisotope fields and in a reactor environment. Deficiencies in the operation of the instrument are highlighted, together with proposals for updating the response functions and spectrum unfolding methodologies.

Production of a monoenergetic electron bunch in a self-injected laser-wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C.-L.; Hsieh, C.-T.; Ho, Y.-C.; Chen, Y.-S.; Lin, J.-Y.; Wang, J.; Chen, S.-Y.

2007-01-01

Production of a monoenergetic electron bunch in a self-injected laser-wakefield accelerator is investigated with a tomographic method which resolves the electron injection and acceleration processes. It is found that all the electrons in the monoenergetic electron bunch are injected at the same location in the plasma column and then accelerated with an acceleration gradient exceeding 2 GeV/cm. The injection position shifts with the position of pump-pulse focus, and no significant deceleration is observed for the monoenergetic electron bunch after it reaches the maximum energy. The results are consistent with the model of transverse wave breaking and beam loading for the injection of monoenergetic electrons. The tomographic method adds a crucial dimension to the whole array of existing diagnostics for laser beams, plasma waves, and electron beams. With this method the details of the underlying physical processes in laser-plasma interactions can be resolved and compared directly to particle-in-cell simulations

Response of LET spectrometer based on track etching at some neutron sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spurny, Frantisek; Brabcova, Katerina; Jadrnickova, Iva

2008-01-01

There is still need to develop upgrade, and test further methods able to characterise the external exposure to neutrons. This contribution presents further results obtained with the goal to enlarge and upgrade the possibility of neutron dosimetry and microdosimetry with a LET spectrometer based on the chemically etched track detectors (TED). As TED we have used several types of polyallyldiglycolcarbonates (PADC). The PADC detectors have been exposed in: high energy neutron beams at iThemba facility, Cape Town, South Africa, and in monoenergetic neutron beams at JRC Geel, Belgium. The studies have been performed in the frame of the ESA supported project DOBIES. (author)

Neutron shielding point kernel integral calculation code for personal computer: PKN-pc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotegawa, Hiroshi; Sakamoto, Yukio; Nakane, Yoshihiro; Tomita, Ken-ichi; Kurosawa, Naohiro.

1994-07-01

A personal computer version of PKN code, PKN-pc, has been developed to calculate neutron and secondary gamma-ray 1cm depth dose equivalents in water, ordinary concrete and iron for neutron source. Characteristics of PKN code are, to able to calculate dose equivalents in multi-layer three-dimensional system, which are described with two-dimensional surface, for monoenergetic neutron source from 0.01 to 14.9 MeV, 252 Cf fission and 241 Am-Be neutron source quick and easily. In addition to these features, the PKN-pc is possible to process interactive input and to get graphical system configuration and graphical results easily. (author)

Passive detectors for neutron fluence measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holt, P.D.

1985-01-01

The use of neutron activation detectors (slow neutron detectors and threshold detectors) and fission track detectors for radiological protection purposes, principally in criticality dosimetry, dosimetry of pulsed accelerators and calibration of neutron fluxes is discussed. References are given to compilations of cross sections. For the determination of the activity induced, either beta ray or gamma ray counting may be used. For beta-ray counting, thin foils are usually necessary which result in low neutron sensitivity. When fission track detectors are used, it is necessary to know the efficiency of track registration. Alternatively, a detector-counter system may be calibrated by exposure to a known flux of monoenergetic neutrons. Usually, the sensitivity of activation detectors is low because small foils are used. For criticality dosimetry, calibration work and shielding studies on accelerators, low sensitivity is acceptable. However, there are some instances where, by the use of long integration times, or very large quantities of detector material with gamma ray detection, neutron fluences in operational areas have been measured. (author)

Neutron transport in two dissimilar media anisotropic scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burkart, A.R.; Ishiguro, Y.; Siewert, C.E.

1976-01-01

The elementary solution of the one-speed neutron-transport equation with linearly anisotropic scattering are used in conjunction with Chandrasekhar's invariance principles to solve in a concise manner the Milne problem for two adjoining half-spaces and the critical reactor problem for a reflected slab

Characterization of the PTW 34031 ionization chamber (PMI) at RCNP with high energy neutrons ranging from 100 - 392 MeV

Science.gov (United States)

Theis, C.; Carbonez, P.; Feldbaumer, E.; Forkel-Wirth, D.; Jaegerhofer, L.; Pangallo, M.; Perrin, D.; Urscheler, C.; Roesler, S.; Vincke, H.; Widorski, M.; Iwamoto, Y.; Hagiwara, M.; Satoh, D.; Iwase, H.; Yashima, H.; Matsumoto, T.; Masuda, A.; Nishiyama, J.; Harano, H.; Itoga, T.; Nakamura, T.; Sato, T.; Nakane, Y.; Nakashima, H.; Sakamoto, Y.; Taniguchi, S.; Nakao, N.; Tamii, A.; Shima, T.; Hatanaka, K.

2017-09-01

Radiation monitoring at high energy proton accelerators poses a considerable challenge due to the complexity of the encountered stray radiation fields. These environments comprise a wide variety of different particle types and span from fractions of electron-volts up to several terra electron-volts. As a consequence the use of Monte Carlo simulation programs like FLUKA is indispensable to obtain appropriate field-specific calibration factors. At many locations of the LHC a large contribution to the particle fluence is expected to originate from high-energy neutrons and thus, benchmark experiments with mono-energetic neutron beams are of high importance to verify the aforementioned detector response calculations. This paper summarizes the results of a series of benchmark experiments with quasi mono-energetic neutrons of 100, 140, 200, 250 and 392 MeV that have been carried out at RCNP - Osaka University, during several campaigns between 2006 and 2014.

Least-squares finite element discretizations of neutron transport equations in 3 dimensions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Manteuffel, T.A [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Ressel, K.J. [Interdisciplinary Project Center for Supercomputing, Zurich (Switzerland); Starkes, G. [Universtaet Karlsruhe (Germany)

1996-12-31

The least-squares finite element framework to the neutron transport equation introduced in is based on the minimization of a least-squares functional applied to the properly scaled neutron transport equation. Here we report on some practical aspects of this approach for neutron transport calculations in three space dimensions. The systems of partial differential equations resulting from a P{sub 1} and P{sub 2} approximation of the angular dependence are derived. In the diffusive limit, the system is essentially a Poisson equation for zeroth moment and has a divergence structure for the set of moments of order 1. One of the key features of the least-squares approach is that it produces a posteriori error bounds. We report on the numerical results obtained for the minimum of the least-squares functional augmented by an additional boundary term using trilinear finite elements on a uniform tesselation into cubes.

Energy dependence of fission product yields from 235U, 238U, and 239Pu with monoenergetic neutrons between thermal and 14.8 MeV

Science.gov (United States)

Gooden, Matthew; Arnold, Charles; Bhike, Megha; Bredeweg, Todd; Fowler, Malcolm; Krishichayan; Tonchev, Anton; Tornow, Werner; Stoyer, Mark; Vieira, David; Wilhelmy, Jerry

2017-09-01

Under a joint collaboration between TUNL-LANL-LLNL, a set of absolute fission product yield measurements has been performed. The energy dependence of a number of cumulative fission product yields (FPY) have been measured using quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams for three actinide targets, 235U, 238U and 239Pu, between 0.5 and 14.8 MeV. The FPYs were measured by a combination of fission counting using specially designed dual-fission chambers and γ-ray counting. Each dual-fission chamber is a back-to-back ionization chamber encasing an activation target in the center with thin deposits of the same target isotope in each chamber. This method allows for the direct measurement of the total number of fissions in the activation target with no reference to the fission cross-section, thus reducing uncertainties. γ-ray counting of the activation target was performed on well-shielded HPGe detectors over a period of two months post irradiation to properly identify fission products. Reported are absolute cumulative fission product yields for incident neutron energies of 0.5, 1.37, 2.4, 3.6, 4.6, 5.5, 7.5, 8.9 and 14.8 MeV. Preliminary results from thermal irradiations at the MIT research reactor will also be presented and compared to present data and evaluations. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Los Alamos National Security, LLC under contract DE-AC52-06NA25396, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and by Duke University and Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory through NNSA Stewardship Science Academic Alliance grant No. DE-FG52-09NA29465, DE-FG52-09NA29448 and Office of Nuclear Physics Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER41033.

Energy dependence of fission product yields from 235U, 238U, and 239Pu with monoenergetic neutrons between thermal and 14.8 MeV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gooden Matthew

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Under a joint collaboration between TUNL-LANL-LLNL, a set of absolute fission product yield measurements has been performed. The energy dependence of a number of cumulative fission product yields (FPY have been measured using quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams for three actinide targets, 235U, 238U and 239Pu, between 0.5 and 14.8 MeV. The FPYs were measured by a combination of fission counting using specially designed dual-fission chambers and γ-ray counting. Each dual-fission chamber is a back-to-back ionization chamber encasing an activation target in the center with thin deposits of the same target isotope in each chamber. This method allows for the direct measurement of the total number of fissions in the activation target with no reference to the fission cross-section, thus reducing uncertainties. γ-ray counting of the activation target was performed on well-shielded HPGe detectors over a period of two months post irradiation to properly identify fission products. Reported are absolute cumulative fission product yields for incident neutron energies of 0.5, 1.37, 2.4, 3.6, 4.6, 5.5, 7.5, 8.9 and 14.8 MeV. Preliminary results from thermal irradiations at the MIT research reactor will also be presented and compared to present data and evaluations. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Los Alamos National Security, LLC under contract DE-AC52-06NA25396, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and by Duke University and Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory through NNSA Stewardship Science Academic Alliance grant No. DE-FG52-09NA29465, DE-FG52-09NA29448 and Office of Nuclear Physics Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER41033.

Compact neutron generator development and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leung, Ka-Ngo; Reijonen, Jani; Gicquel, Frederic; Hahto, Sami; Lou, Tak-Pui

2004-01-01

The Plasma and Ion Source Technology Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been engaging in the development of high yield compact neutron generators for the last ten years. Because neutrons in these generators are formed by using either D-D, T-T or D-T fusion reaction, one can produce either mono-energetic (2.4 MeV or 14 MeV) or white neutrons. All the neutron generators being developed by our group utilize 13.5 MHz RF induction discharge to produce a pure deuterium or a mixture of deuterium-tritium plasma. As a result, ion beams with high current density and almost pure atomic ions can be extracted from the plasma source. The ion beams are accelerated to ∼100 keV and neutrons are produced when the beams impinge on a titanium target. Neutron generators with different configurations and sizes have been designed and tested at LBNL. Their applications include neutron activation analysis, oil-well logging, boron neutron capture therapy, brachytherapy, cargo and luggage screening. A novel small point neutron source has recently been developed for radiography application. The source size can be 2 mm or less, making it possible to examine objects with sharper images. The performance of these neutron generators will be described in this paper

Cellular neural network to the spherical harmonics approximation of neutron transport equation in x–y geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pirouzmand, Ahmad; Hadad, Kamal

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► This paper describes the solution of time-dependent neutron transport equation. ► We use a novel method based on cellular neural networks (CNNs) coupled with the spherical harmonics method. ► We apply the CNN model to simulate step and ramp perturbation transients in a core. ► The accuracy and capabilities of the CNN model are examined for x–y geometry. - Abstract: In an earlier paper we utilized a novel method using cellular neural networks (CNNs) coupled with spherical harmonics method to solve the steady state neutron transport equation in x–y geometry. Here, the previous work is extended to the study of time-dependent neutron transport equation. To achieve this goal, an equivalent electrical circuit based on a second-order form of time-dependent neutron transport equation and one equivalent group of neutron precursor density is obtained by the CNN method. The CNN model is used to simulate step and ramp perturbation transients in a typical 2D core.

Development of Cold Neutron Depth Profiling System at HANARO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, B. G.; Choi, H. D.; Sun, G. M.

2012-01-01

The depth profiles of intentional or intrinsic constituents of a sample provide valuable information for the characterization of materials. A number of analytical techniques for depth profiling have been developed. Neutron Depth Profiling (NDP) system which was developed by Ziegler et al. is one of the leading analytical techniques. In NDP, a thermal or cold neutron beam passes through a material and interacts with certain isotopes that are known to emit monoenergetic-charged particle remaining a recoil nucleus after neutron absorption. The depth is obtained from the energy loss of those charged particles escaping surface of substrate material. For various applications of NDP technique, the Cold Neutron Depth Profiling System (CN-NDP) was developed at a neutron guide CG1 installed at the HANARO cold neutron source. In this study the design features of the cold neutron beam and target chamber for the CN-NDP system are given. Also, some experiments for the performance tests of the CN-NDP system are described

Portable Neutron Generator with 9-Section Silicon $\\alpha $-Detector

CERN Document Server

Bystritsky, V M; Kadyshevskij, V G; Khasaev, T O; Kobzev, A P; Presnyakov, Yu K; Rogov,Yu N; Ryzhkov, V I; Sapozhnikov, M G; Sissakian, A N; Slepnev, V M; Zamyatin, N I

2006-01-01

The characteristics of the portable neutron generator with a built-in $\\alpha $-detector are presented. Based on the "tagged" neutron method (TNM) the generator ~is being used for identification of ~the hidden chemical compounds. One of the special features of such generators compared to generators traditionally used and produced in industry is that the generator is a source of monoenergetic "tagged" 14.1 MeV neutrons produced in the binary nuclear reaction $d+t \\to \\alpha $ (3.5 MeV) $+n$ (14.1~MeV). Unambiguous information about the time and direction of the neutron emitted from the target can be obtained by recording an $\\alpha $ particle by the multi-pixel $\\alpha $-detector placed inside the neutron tube. The study of the "tagged" neutron method (TNM) shows that the use of the ($\\alpha $--$\\gamma $) coincidence reduces the gamma background induced by scattered neutrons by a factor of more than 200, which allows the detection and identification of small quantities of explosives, drugs, and toxic agents. T...

Energy response of neutron area monitor with silicon semiconductor detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitaguchi, Hiroshi; Izumi, Sigeru; Kobayashi, Kaoru; Kaihara, Akihisa; Nakamura, Takashi.

1993-01-01

A prototype neutron area monitor with a silicon semiconductor detector has been developed which has the energy response of 1 cm dose equivalent recommended by the ICRP-26. Boron and proton radiators are coated on the surface of the silicon semiconductor detector. The detector is set at the center of a cylindrical polyethylene moderator. This moderator is covered by a porous cadmium board which serves as the thermal neutron absorber. Neutrons are detected as α-particles generated by the nuclear reaction 10 B(n,α) 7 Li and as recoil protons generated by the interaction of fast neutrons with hydrogen. The neutron energy response of the monitor was measured using thermal neutrons and monoenergetic fast neutrons generated by an accelerator. The response was consistent with the 1 cm dose equivalent response required for the monitor within ±34% in the range of 0.025 - 15 Mev. (author)

Application of neutron/gamma transport codes for the design of explosive detection systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elias, E.; Shayer, Z.

1994-01-01

Applications of neutron and gamma transport codes to the design of nuclear techniques for detecting concealed explosives material are discussed. The methodology of integrating radiation transport computations in the development, optimization and analysis phases of these new technologies is discussed. Transport and Monte Carlo codes are used for proof of concepts, guide the system integration, reduce the extend of experimental program and provide insight into the physical problem involved. The paper concentrates on detection techniques based on thermal and fast neutron interactions in the interrogated object. (authors). 6 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

Reference neutron radiations. Part 1: Characteristics and methods of production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

ISO 8529 consists of the following parts, under the general title Reference neutron radiations: Part 1: Characteristics and methods of production; Part 2: Calibration fundamentals of radiation protection devices related to the basic quantities characterizing the radiation field; Part 3: Calibration of area and personal dosimeters and determination of response as a function of energy and angle of incidence. This Part 1. of ISO 8529 specifies the reference neutron radiations, in the energy range from thermal up to 20 MeV, for calibrating neutron-measuring devices used for radiation protection purposes and for determining their response as a function of neutron energy. Reference radiations are given for neutron fluence rates of up to 1x10 9 m 2 s-1 , corresponding, at a neutron energy of 1 MeV, to dose-equivalent rates of up to 100 mSv h -1 . This part of ISO 8529 is concerned only with the methods of producing and characterizing the neutron reference radiations. The procedures for applying these radiations for calibrations are described in ISO 8529-2 and ISO 8529-3. The reference radiations specified are the following: neutrons from radionuclide sources, including neutrons from sources in a moderator; neutrons produced by nuclear reactions with charged particles from accelerators; neutrons from reactors. In view of the methods of production and use of them, these reference radiations are divided, for the purposes of this part of ISO 8529, into the following two separate sections. In clause 4, radionuclide neutron sources with wide spectra are specified for the calibration of neutron measuring devices. These sources should be used by laboratories engaged in the routine calibration of neutron-measuring devices, the particular design of which has already been type tested. In clause 5, accelerator-produced monoenergetic neutrons and reactor-produced neutrons with wide or quasi monoenergetic spectra are specified for determining the response of neutron-measuring devices

Monte Carlo simulations of the particle transport in semiconductor detectors of fast neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sedlačková, Katarína; Zaťko, Bohumír; Šagátová, Andrea; Nečas, Vladimír

2013-01-01

Several Monte Carlo all-particle transport codes are under active development around the world. In this paper we focused on the capabilities of the MCNPX code (Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended) to follow the particle transport in semiconductor detector of fast neutrons. Semiconductor detector based on semi-insulating GaAs was the object of our investigation. As converter material capable to produce charged particles from the (n, p) interaction, a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was employed. As the source of fast neutrons, the 239 Pu–Be neutron source was used in the model. The simulations were performed using the MCNPX code which makes possible to track not only neutrons but also recoiled protons at all interesting energies. Hence, the MCNPX code enables seamless particle transport and no other computer program is needed to process the particle transport. The determination of the optimal thickness of the conversion layer and the minimum thickness of the active region of semiconductor detector as well as the energy spectra simulation were the principal goals of the computer modeling. Theoretical detector responses showed that the best detection efficiency can be achieved for 500 μm thick HDPE converter layer. The minimum detector active region thickness has been estimated to be about 400 μm. -- Highlights: ► Application of the MCNPX code for fast neutron detector design is demonstrated. ► Simulations of the particle transport through conversion film of HDPE are presented. ► Simulations of the particle transport through detector active region are presented. ► The optimal thickness of the HDPE conversion film has been calculated. ► Detection efficiency of 0.135% was reached for 500 μm thick HDPE conversion film

Design of an irradiation facility with thermal, epithermal and fast neutron beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pfister, G.; Bernnat, W.; Seidel, R.; Schatz, A.K.; Wagner, F.M.; Waschkowski, W.; Schraube, H.

1992-01-01

The main features of a neutron irradiation facility to be installed at the planned research reactor FRM-II are presented. In addition to the operational possibilities of the existing facility at the reactor FRM-I, the new facility will produce quasi-monoenergetic neutron fields and a neutron beam in the keV region whose spectrum can be modified by application of suitable filters and scatterers. For this beam, which is well suited for boron capture therapy, calculated boron reaction rates inside a phantom and an experimental verification of the calculations at the existing facility are presented. (orig.) [de

Non-Destructive Spent Fuel Characterization with Semiconducting Gallium Arsinde Neutron Imaging Arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGregor, Douglas S.; Gersch, Holly K.; Sanders, Jeffrey D.; Lee, John C.; Hammig, Mark D.; Hartman, Michael R.; Yong Hong Yang; Klann, Raymond T.; Elzen, Brian Van Der; Lindsay, John T.; Simpson, Philip A.

2002-01-01

High resistivity bulk grown GaAs has been used to produce thermal neutron imaging devices for use in neutron radiography and characterizing burnup in spent fuel. The basic scheme utilizes a portable Sb/Be source for monoenergetic (24 keV) neutron radiation source coupled to an Fe filter with a radiation hard B-coated pixellated GaAs detector array as the primary neutron detector. The coated neutron detectors have been tested for efficiency and radiation hardness in order to determine their fitness for the harsh environments imposed by spent fuel. Theoretical and experimental results are presented, showing detector radiation hardness, expected detection efficiency and the spatial resolution from such a scheme. A variety of advanced neutron detector designs have been explored, with experimental results achieving 13% thermal neutron detection efficiency while projecting the possibility of over 30% thermal neutron detection efficiency

The spectral element approach for the solution of neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbarino, A.; Dulla, S.; Ravetto, P.; Mund, E.H.

2011-01-01

In this paper a possible application of the Spectral Element Method to neutron transport problems is presented. The basic features of the numerical scheme on the one-dimensional diffusion equation are illustrated. Then, the AN model for neutron transport is introduced, and the basic steps for the construction of a bi-dimensional solver are described. The AN equations are chosen for their structure, involving a system of coupled elliptic-type equations. Some calculations are carried out on typical benchmark problems and results are compared with the Finite Element Method, in order to evaluate their performances. (author)

Sensitivity of neutron air transport to nitrogen cross section uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niiler, A.; Beverly, W.B.; Banks, N.E.

1975-01-01

The sensitivity of the transport of 14-MeV neutrons in sea level air to uncertainties in the ENDF/B-III values of the various Nitrogen cross sections has been calculated using the correlated sampling Monte Carlo neutron transport code SAMCEP. The source consisted of a 14.0- to 14.9-MeV band of isotropic neutrons and the fluences (0.5 to 15.0 MeV) were calculated at radii from 50 to 1500 metres. The maximum perturbations, assigned to the ENDF/B-III or base cross section set in the 6.0- to 14.5-MeV energy range were; (1) 2 percent to the total, (2) 10 percent to the total elastic, (3) 40 percent to the inelastic and absorption and (4) 20 percent to the first Legendre coefficient and 10 percent to the second Legendre coefficient of the elastic angular distribtuions. Transport calculations were carried out using various physically realistic sets of perturbed cross sections, bounded by evaluator-assigned uncertainties, as well as the base set. Results show that in some energy intervals at 1500 metres, the differential fluence level with a perturbed set differed by almost a factor of two from the differential fluence level with the base set. 5 figures

Brazilian two-component TLD albedo neutron individual monitoring system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martins, M.M., E-mail: marcelo@ird.gov.b [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD), Av. Salvador Allende, s/n, CEP: 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Mauricio, C.L.P., E-mail: claudia@ird.gov.b [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD), Av. Salvador Allende, s/n, CEP: 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Fonseca, E.S. da, E-mail: evaldo@ird.gov.b [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD), Av. Salvador Allende, s/n, CEP: 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Silva, A.X. da, E-mail: ademir@con.ufrj.b [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao em Engenharia, COPPE/PEN Caixa Postal 68509, CEP: 21941-972, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2010-12-15

Since 1983, Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria, Brazil, uses a TLD one-component albedo neutron monitor, which has a single different calibration factor specifically for each installation type. In order to improve its energy response, a two-component albedo monitor was developed, which measure the thermal neutron component besides the albedo one. The two-component monitor has been calibrated in reference neutron fields: thermal, five accelerator-produced monoenergetic beams (70, 144, 565, 1200 and 5000 keV) and five radionuclide sources ({sup 252}Cf, {sup 252}Cf(D{sub 2}O), {sup 241}Am-Be, {sup 241}Am-B and {sup 238}Pu-Be) at several distances. Since January 2008, mainly Brazilian workers who handle neutron sources at different distances and moderation, such as in well logging and calibration facilities are using it routinely.

Neutron spectrum unfolding using neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vega C, H.R.; Hernandez D, V.M.; Manzanares A, E.

2004-01-01

An artificial neural network has been designed to obtain the neutron spectra from the Bonner spheres spectrometer's count rates. The neural network was trained using a large set of neutron spectra compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency. These include spectra from iso- topic neutron sources, reference and operational neutron spectra obtained from accelerators and nuclear reactors. The spectra were transformed from lethargy to energy distribution and were re-binned to 31 energy groups using the MCNP 4C code. Re-binned spectra and UTA4 matrix were used to calculate the expected count rates in Bonner spheres spectrometer. These count rates were used as input and correspondent spectrum was used as output during neural network training. The network has 7 input nodes, 56 neurons as hidden layer and 31 neurons in the output layer. After training the network was tested with the Bonner spheres count rates produced by twelve neutron spectra. The network allows unfolding the neutron spectrum from count rates measured with Bonner spheres. Good results are obtained when testing count rates belong to neutron spectra used during training, acceptable results are obtained for count rates obtained from actual neutron fields; however the network fails when count rates belong to monoenergetic neutron sources. (Author)

Neutron secondary-particle production cross sections and their incorporation into Monte-Carlo transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenner, D.J.; Prael, R.E.; Little, R.C.

1987-01-01

Realistic simulations of the passage of fast neutrons through tissue require a large quantity of cross-sectional data. What are needed are differential (in particle type, energy and angle) cross sections. A computer code is described which produces such spectra for neutrons above ∼14 MeV incident on light nuclei such as carbon and oxygen. Comparisons have been made with experimental measurements of double-differential secondary charged-particle production on carbon and oxygen at energies from 27 to 60 MeV; they indicate that the model is adequate in this energy range. In order to utilize fully the results of these calculations, they should be incorporated into a neutron transport code. This requires defining a generalized format for describing charged-particle production, putting the calculated results in this format, interfacing the neutron transport code with these data, and charged-particle transport. The design and development of such a program is described. 13 refs., 3 figs

Transport calculations for a 14.8 MeV neutron beam in a water phantom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goetsch, S.J.

1981-01-01

A coupled neutron/photon Monte Carlo radiation transport code (MORSE-CG) has been used to calculate neutron and photon doses in a water phantom irradiated by 14.8 MeV neutrons from the Gas Target Neutron Source. The source-collimator-phantom geometry was carefully simulated. Results of calculations utilizing two different statistical estimators (next-collision and track-length) are presented

Hybrid variational principles and synthesis method for finite element neutron transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackroyd, R.T.; Nanneh, M.M.

1990-01-01

A family of hybrid variational principles is derived using a generalised least squares method. Neutron conservation is automatically satisfied for the hybrid principles employing two trial functions. No interfaces or reflection conditions need to be imposed on the independent even-parity trial function. For some hybrid principles a single trial function can be employed by relating one parity trial function to the other, using one of the parity transport equation in relaxed form. For other hybrid principles the trial functions can be employed sequentially. Synthesis of transport solutions, starting with the diffusion theory approximation, has been used as a way of reducing the scale of the computation that arises with established finite element methods for neutron transport. (author)

Attenuation data of point isotropic neutron sources up to 400MeV in water, ordinary concrete and iron

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kotegawa, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Shun-ichi; Sakamoto, Yukio; Nakane, Yoshihiro; Nakashima, Hiroshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

1994-08-01

A comprehensive attenuation data of dose equivalent for point isotropic monoenergetic neutron sources up to 400MeV in infinite shields of water, ordinary concrete and iron has been calculated using the ANISN-JR code and a neutron-photon multigroup macroscopic cross section HIL086R. The attenuation factors were fitted to a 4th order polynomial exponent formula, making possible to use easily for point kernel codes. Additional data in finite shielding geometry was also calculated to correct the effect due to infinite medium, giving the maximum correction of 0.23 in the region for more 400 cm distance from neutron source of 400 MeV in iron shield. Effective attenuation length for monoenergetic neutrons have been studied in detail. Subsequently, it was shown that the attenuation length was strongly dependent upon the penetration length and the Moyer`s formula using a single attenuation length brought large error into the dose estimation behind thick shields for the intermediate energy neutrons up to 400 MeV. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that there was difference more than 50 % in the attenuation length of iron between the calculations with HIL086R and HIL086 because of the self-shielding effect. (author).

Development of a transportable neutron radiography system for non-destructive tests application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Ademir X. da; Crispim, Verginia R.

1999-01-01

This paper presents a study of a transportable neutron radiography system utilizing californium-252. Studies about moderation, collimation and shielding are showed. A Monte Carlo Code, MCNP3b, has been used to obtain a maximum and more homogeneous thermal neutron flux in the collimator outlet next to the image plain, and an adequate radiation shielding to attend radiological protection rules. With the presented collimator, it was possible to obtain for the thermal neutron flux, at the collimator outlet and next to the image plain, a L/D ratio 7,5, for neutron flux up to 6 X 10 -6 cm -2 .s -1 per neutron source. (author)

OECD/NEA benchmark for time-dependent neutron transport calculations without spatial homogenization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hou, Jason, E-mail: jason.hou@ncsu.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 (United States); Ivanov, Kostadin N. [Department of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 (United States); Boyarinov, Victor F.; Fomichenko, Peter A. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, Kurchatov Sq. 1, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2017-06-15

Highlights: • A time-dependent homogenization-free neutron transport benchmark was created. • The first phase, known as the kinetics phase, was described in this work. • Preliminary results for selected 2-D transient exercises were presented. - Abstract: A Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) benchmark for the time-dependent neutron transport calculations without spatial homogenization has been established in order to facilitate the development and assessment of numerical methods for solving the space-time neutron kinetics equations. The benchmark has been named the OECD/NEA C5G7-TD benchmark, and later extended with three consecutive phases each corresponding to one modelling stage of the multi-physics transient analysis of the nuclear reactor core. This paper provides a detailed introduction of the benchmark specification of Phase I, known as the “kinetics phase”, including the geometry description, supporting neutron transport data, transient scenarios in both two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) configurations, as well as the expected output parameters from the participants. Also presented are the preliminary results for the initial state 2-D core and selected transient exercises that have been obtained using the Monte Carlo method and the Surface Harmonic Method (SHM), respectively.

Method to determine the strength of a neutron source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vega C, H.R.; Manzanares A, E.; Hernandez D, V.M.; Chacon R, A.; Mercado, G.A. [UAZ, A.P. 336, 98000 Zacatecas (Mexico); Gallego, E.; Lorente, A. [Depto. Ingenieria Nuclear, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, (Spain)

2006-07-01

The use of a gamma-ray spectrometer with a 3 {phi} x 3 NaI(Tl) detector, with a moderator sphere has been studied in the aim to measure the neutron fluence rate and to determine the source strength. Moderators with a large amount of hydrogen are able to slowdown and thermalize neutrons; once thermalized there is a probability that thermal neutron to be captured by hydrogen producing 2.22 MeV prompt gamma-ray. The pulse-height spectrum collected in a multicharmel analyzer shows a photopeak around 2.22 MeV whose net area is proportional to total neutron fluence rate and to the neutron source strength. The characteristics of this system were determined by a Monte Carlo study using the MCNP 4C code, where a detailed model of the Nal(Tl) was utilized. As moderators 3, 5, and 10 inches-diameter spheres where utilized and the response was calculated for monoenergetic and isotopic neutrons sources. (Author)

Fast rigorous numerical method for the solution of the anisotropic neutron transport problem and the NITRAN system for fusion neutronics application. Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, A.; Rusch, D.

1979-07-01

Some recent neutronics experiments for fusion reactor blankets show that the precise treatment of anisotropic secondary emissions for all types of neutron scattering is needed for neutron transport calculations. In the present work new rigorous methods, i.e. based on non-approximative microscopic neutron balance equations, are applied to treat the anisotropic collision source term in transport equations. The collision source calculation is free from approximations except for the discretization of energy, angle and space variables and includes the rigorous treatment of nonelastic collisions, as far as nuclear data are given. Two methods are presented: first the Ii-method, which relies on existing nuclear data files and then, as an ultimate goal, the I*-method, which aims at the use of future double-differential cross section data, but which is also applicable to the present single-differential data basis to allow a smooth transition to the new data type. An application of the Ii-method is given in the code system NITRAN which employs the Ssub(N)-method to solve the transport equations. Both rigorous methods, the Ii- and the I*-method, are applicable to all radiation transport problems and they can be used also in the Monte-Carlo-method to solve the transport problem. (orig./RW) [de

Multigroup neutron transport equation in the diffusion and P{sub 1} approximation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Obradovic, D [Boris Kidric Institute of nuclear sciences Vinca, Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

1970-07-01

Investigations of the properties of the multigroup transport operator, width and without delayed neutrons in the diffusion and P{sub 1} approximation, is performed using Keldis's theory of operator families as well as a technique . recently used for investigations into the properties of the general linearized Boltzmann operator. It is shown that in the case without delayed neutrons, multigroup transport operator in the diffusion and P{sub 1} approximation possesses a complete set of generalized eigenvectors. A formal solution to the initial value problem is also given. (author)

Finite element method for solving neutron transport problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferguson, J.M.; Greenbaum, A.

1984-01-01

A finite element method is introduced for solving the neutron transport equations. Our method falls into the category of Petrov-Galerkin solution, since the trial space differs from the test space. The close relationship between this method and the discrete ordinate method is discussed, and the methods are compared for simple test problems

Standard Practice for Conducting Irradiations at Accelerator-Based Neutron Sources

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

1996-01-01

1.1 This practice covers procedures for irradiations at accelerator-based neutron sources. The discussion focuses on two types of sources, namely nearly monoenergetic 14-MeV neutrons from the deuterium-tritium T(d,n) interaction, and broad spectrum neutrons from stopping deuterium beams in thick beryllium or lithium targets. However, most of the recommendations also apply to other types of accelerator-based sources, including spallation neutron sources (1). Interest in spallation sources has increased recently due to their proposed use for transmutation of fission reactor waste (2). 1.2 Many of the experiments conducted using such neutron sources are intended to simulate irradiation in another neutron spectrum, for example, that from a DT fusion reaction. The word simulation is used here in a broad sense to imply an approximation of the relevant neutron irradiation environment. The degree of conformity can range from poor to nearly exact. In general, the intent of these simulations is to establish the fundam...

Fission Product Yields of 233U, 235U, 238U and 239Pu in Fields of Thermal Neutrons, Fission Neutrons and 14.7-MeV Neutrons

Science.gov (United States)

Laurec, J.; Adam, A.; de Bruyne, T.; Bauge, E.; Granier, T.; Aupiais, J.; Bersillon, O.; Le Petit, G.; Authier, N.; Casoli, P.

2010-12-01

The yields of more than fifteen fission products have been carefully measured using radiochemical techniques, for 235U(n,f), 239Pu(n,f) in a thermal spectrum, for 233U(n,f), 235U(n,f), and 239Pu(n,f) reactions in a fission neutron spectrum, and for 233U(n,f), 235U(n,f), 238U(n,f), and 239Pu(n,f) for 14.7 MeV monoenergetic neutrons. Irradiations were performed at the EL3 reactor, at the Caliban and Prospero critical assemblies, and at the Lancelot electrostatic accelerator in CEA-Valduc. Fissions were counted in thin deposits using fission ionization chambers. The number of fission products of each species were measured by gamma spectrometry of co-located thick deposits.

Study of the neutron-proton interaction in the 300 to 700 MeV energy region. Annual progress report, 1975--76

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Northcliffe, L.C.

1976-01-01

Research is summarized on n-p differential cross sections for charge-exchange interactions, meson production in nucleon-nucleon collisions, the spectra of charged particles produced in the bombardment of various targets by monoenergetic neutrons

Beam-transport optimization for cold-neutron spectrometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nakajima Kenji

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We report the design of the beam-transport system (especially the vertical geometry for a cold-neutron disk-chopper spectrometer AMATERAS at J-PARC. Based on the elliptical shape, which is one of the most effective geometries for a ballistic mirror, the design was optimized to obtain, at the sample position, a neutron beam with high flux without serious degrading in divergence and spacial homogeneity within the boundary conditions required from actual spectrometer construction. The optimum focal point was examined. An ideal elliptical shape was modified to reduce its height without serious loss of transmission. The final result was adapted to the construction requirements of AMATERAS. Although the ideas studied in this paper are considered for the AMATERAS case, they can be useful also to other spectrometers in similar situations.

Fission signal detection using helium-4 gas fast neutron scintillation detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lewis, J. M., E-mail: lewisj@ufl.edu; Kelley, R. P.; Jordan, K. A. [Nuclear Engineering Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States); Murer, D. [Arktis Radiation Detectors Ltd., 8045 Zurich (Switzerland)

2014-07-07

We demonstrate the unambiguous detection of the fission neutron signal produced in natural uranium during active neutron interrogation using a deuterium-deuterium fusion neutron generator and a high pressure {sup 4}He gas fast neutron scintillation detector. The energy deposition by individual neutrons is quantified, and energy discrimination is used to differentiate the induced fission neutrons from the mono-energetic interrogation neutrons. The detector can discriminate between different incident neutron energies using pulse height discrimination of the slow scintillation component of the elastic scattering interaction between a neutron and the {sup 4}He atom. Energy histograms resulting from this data show the buildup of a detected fission neutron signal at higher energies. The detector is shown here to detect a unique fission neutron signal from a natural uranium sample during active interrogation with a (d, d) neutron generator. This signal path has a direct application to the detection of shielded nuclear material in cargo and air containers. It allows for continuous interrogation and detection while greatly minimizing the potential for false alarms.

Cross sections for fast-neutron interaction with ytterbium isotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Junhua; Liu, Rong; Jiang, Li; Ge, Suhong; Liu, Zhenlai; Sun, Guihua

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► The cross sections for the (n,x) reactions on ytterbium isotopes have been measured. ► Mono-energetic neutron beams using the D + T reaction; Energies: 13.5 and 14.8 MeV. ► Neutron cross-section measurements by means of the activation technique. ► Reference reactions 93 Nb(n,2n) 92m Nb and 27 (n,α) 24 Na. ► Data for 172 Yb(n,p) 172 Tm and 176 Yb(n,d * ) 175 Tm are reported for the first time. - Abstract: Measurements of (n,2n), (n,p), and (n,d * ) (The expression (n,d * ) cross section used in this work includes a sum of (n,d), (n,np) and (n,pn) cross sections.) reaction cross-sections on ytterbium isotopes have been carried out in the range of 13.5–14.8 MeV using the activation technique. The monoenergetic neutron beams were produced via the 3 H(d,n) 3 He reaction. The neutron energies of different directions were determined using the Nb/Zr method. Samples were activated along with along with Nb and Al monitor foils to determine the incident neutron flux. Data are reported for the following reactions: 168 Yb(n,2n) 167 Yb, 170 Yb(n,2n) 169m+g Yb, 176 Yb(n,2n) 175m+g Yb, 172 Yb(n,p) 172 Tm, 173 Yb(n,p) 173 Tm, 176 Yb(n,d * ) 175 Tm, 174 Yb(n,p) 174 Tm, and 176 Yb(n,p) 176 Tm. The experimentally deduced cross-sections are compared with the existing experimental data. Furthermore, theoretical statistical model, based on the Hauser–Feshbach formalism, have been carried out using the HFTT

RBE of Monoenergetic Fast Neutrons: Cytogenetic Effects in Maize; EBR des Neutrons Rapides Monoenergeniques: Effets Cytogenetiques sur le Mais; Obeh monoehnergeticheskikh bystrykh nejtronov: tsitogeneticheskie izmeneniya u kukuruzy; EBR de los Neutrones Rapidos Monoenergeticos: Efectos Citogeneticos en el Maiz

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, H. H.; Bateman, J. L.; Quastler, H.; Rossi, H. H. [Biology and Medical Departments, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY (United States)

1964-05-15

The maize used in these experiments has the advantage for RBE studies of yielding a basically first-order dose-response curve with low as well as with high LET radiations. An exposure apparatus was used which produced essentially equal dose rates in five rings of seeds placed so as to intercept neutrons of 0.43, 0.65, 1.00, 1.50 and 1.80 MeV. The mutant sectors produced in leaves are believed to be due mostly to simple chromosome breakage and deletion. Experiments were performed at dosages that gave responses which were linear, below saturation levels, and overlapping in range for the monoenergetic fast neutrons and 250 kVp X-rays. RBE values, calculated from relative slopes of linear-regression lines for neutrons and X-rays ranged from 42 to 135 with an overall average of about 70. Fast neutrons of 0.43 MeV energy were the most efficient, of those used, in producing g{sub 2} mutant sectors. (author) [French] Pour les etudes sur l'EBR, le maft utilise au cours des experiences offre l'avantage de donner une courbe dose-reponse qui est essentiellement de premier ordre, que le TLE du rayonnement soit faible ou eleve. Les auteurs ont utilise un appareil d'irradiation assurant des debits de dose pratiquement egaux dans cinq couronnes de semences disposees de maniere a intercepter les neutrons de 0,43, 0,65, 1,00, 1,50 et 1,80 MeV. On pense que les secteurs mutants produits dans les feuilles sont dus essentiellement a une rupture et une disparition de chromosomes simples. Les auteurs ont fait des experiences a des doses qui ont donne des reponses lineaires, inferieures au niveau de saturation et se chevauchant dans le cas des neutrons rapides et des rayons X de 250 kV-crete. Les valeurs de l'EBR calculees d'apres la comparaison des pentes des courbes de regression lineaire pour les neutrons et les rayons X varient de 42 a 135, avec une valeur moyenne d'environ 70. Parmi les neutrons utilises, les neutrons rapides de 0,43 MeV ont ete les plus efficaces pour produire des

In phantom dosimetric response of tooth enamel to neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fattibene, P.; Angelone, M.; Pillon, M.; De Coste, V.

2004-01-01

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance dosimetry based on tooth enamel has one important application in dose reconstruction of nuclear plant workers, where the contribution of neutrons to individual dose is often important. Evaluation of tooth enamel response to neutrons is thus an important goal. A few experimental data at thermal and fast neutron energies are available. A first evaluation of the tooth enamel relative response to 60 Co in monoenergetic neutron flux of 2.8 and of 14 MeV, published elsewhere, has provided results apparently non-consistent with the results obtained at lower and higher energies. A comparison of those results in the 2.8 and 14 MeV beams with those available in the literature for other beams is reported and possible reasons for incongruities are discussed. Dose conversion factors of enamel to the water and air are also calculated and reported. (authors)

Simulation of neutron transport equation using parallel Monte Carlo for deep penetration problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bekar, K. K.; Tombakoglu, M.; Soekmen, C. N.

2001-01-01

Neutron transport equation is simulated using parallel Monte Carlo method for deep penetration neutron transport problem. Monte Carlo simulation is parallelized by using three different techniques; direct parallelization, domain decomposition and domain decomposition with load balancing, which are used with PVM (Parallel Virtual Machine) software on LAN (Local Area Network). The results of parallel simulation are given for various model problems. The performances of the parallelization techniques are compared with each other. Moreover, the effects of variance reduction techniques on parallelization are discussed

Neutron induced bystander effect among zebrafish embryos

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, C. Y. P.; Kong, E. Y.; Kobayashi, A.; Suya, N.; Uchihori, Y.; Cheng, S. H.; Konishi, T.; Yu, K. N.

2015-12-01

The present paper reported the first-ever observation of neutron induced bystander effect (NIBE) using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos as the in vivo model. The neutron exposure in the present work was provided by the Neutron exposure Accelerator System for Biological Effect Experiments (NASBEE) facility at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), Chiba, Japan. Two different strategies were employed to induce NIBE, namely, through directly partnering and through medium transfer. Both results agreed with a neutron-dose window (20-50 mGy) which could induce NIBE. The lower dose limit corresponded to the threshold amount of neutron-induced damages to trigger significant bystander signals, while the upper limit corresponded to the onset of gamma-ray hormesis which could mitigate the neutron-induced damages and thereby suppress the bystander signals. Failures to observe NIBE in previous studies were due to using neutron doses outside the dose-window. Strategies to enhance the chance of observing NIBE included (1) use of a mono-energetic high-energy (e.g., between 100 keV and 2 MeV) neutron source, and (2) use of a neutron source with a small gamma-ray contamination. It appeared that the NASBEE facility used in the present study fulfilled both conditions, and was thus ideal for triggering NIBE.

Advanced virtual monoenergetic images: improving the contrast of dual-energy CT pulmonary angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meier, A.; Wurnig, M.; Desbiolles, L.; Leschka, S.; Frauenfelder, T.; Alkadhi, H.

2015-01-01

Aim: To investigate the value of advanced virtual monoenergetic image reconstruction (mono-plus) from dual-energy computed tomography (CT) for improving the contrast of CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA). Materials and methods: Forty consecutive patients (25 women, mean 62.5 years, range 28–87 years) underwent 192-section dual-source CTPA with dual-energy CT (90/150 SnkVp) after the administration of 60 ml contrast media (300 mg iodine/ml). Conventional virtual monochromatic images at 60 keV and 17 mono-plus image datasets from 40–190 keV (in 10 keV steps) were reconstructed. Subjective image quality (artefacts, subjective noise) was rated. Attenuation was measured in the pulmonary trunk and in the right lower lobe pulmonary artery; noise was measured in the periscapular musculature. The signal-to-noise (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were calculated for each patient and dataset. Comparisons between monochromatic images and mono-plus images were performed by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc Bonferroni correction. Results: Interreader agreement was good to excellent for subjective image quality (ICC: 0.616–0.889). As compared to conventional 60 keV images, artefacts occurred less (p=0.001) and subjective noise was rated lower (p<0.001) in mono-plus 40 keV images. Noise was lower (p<0.001), and the SNR and CNR in the pulmonary trunk and right lower lobe pulmonary artery were higher (both, p<0.001) in mono-plus 40 keV images compared to conventional monoenergetic 60 keV images. Transient interruption of contrast (TIC) was found in 14/40 (35%) of patients, with subjective contrast being similar 8/40 (20%) or higher 32/40 (80%) in mono-plus 40 keV as compared to conventional monoenergetic 60 keV images. Conclusions: Compared to conventional virtual monoenergetic imaging, mono-plus images at 40 keV improve the contrast of dual-energy CTPA. - Highlights: • Advanced monoenergetic image reconstruction from dual-energy CT

Evaluation of response function of moderating-type neutron detector and application to environmental neutron measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosako, Toshiso; Nakamura, Takashi; Iwai, Satoshi; Katsuki, Shinji; Kamata, Masashi.

1983-08-01

The energy-dependent response function of a multi-cylinder moderating-type BF 3 counter, so-called Bonner counter, was calculated by the time-dependent multi-group Monte Carlo code, TMMCR. The calculated response function was evaluated experimentally for neutron energy below about 50 keV down to epithermal energy by the time-of-flight method combining with a large lead pile at the Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, University of Tokyo and also above 50 keV by using the monoenergetic neutron standard field a t the Electrotechnical Laboratory. The time delay in the polyethylene moderator of the Bonner counter due to multiple collisions with hydrogen was analyzed by the TMMCR code and used for the time-spectrum analysis of the time-of-flight measurement. The response function obtained by these two experiments showed good agreement with the calculated results. This Bonner counter having a response function evaluated from thermal to MeV energy range was used for spectrometry and dosimetry of environmental neutrons around some nuclear facilities. The neutron spectra and dose measured in the environment around a 252 Cf fission source, fast neutron source reactor and electron synchrotron were all in good agreement with the calculated results and the measured results with other neutron detectors. (author)

Personal neutron monitoring using TLD albedo combined with etched tracks detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsujimura, N.; Momose, T. [Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, Ibarakiken (Japan)

2002-07-01

The albedo dosimetry has been carried out in personal neutron monitoring in the MOX fuel plant of JNC Tokai Works, however, it has shortcomings mainly due to the inherently poor energy response. This paper describes our efforts to overcome these difficulties in practical use of albedo dosemeters. The following four subjects are presented: (1) the neutron energy response functions of albedo TLD obtained from the mono-energetic neutron irradiation experiments and the Monte-Carlo calculations, (2) the location- dependent correction factors calculated from the response functions and neutron energy spectra measured in the workplaces, (3) the results of the international personal neutron dosimetry intercomparison program, and (4) the operational comparison program of TLD albedo and etched tracks detector worn by workers engaged in the fabrication process of the MOX fuel plant. Finally, the characteristics of the combination neutron dosemeter using TLD albedo and solid state etched track detector are summarized.

Dose-equivalent response CR-39 track detector for personnel neutron dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oda, K.; Ito, M.; Yoneda, H.; Miyake, H.; Yamamoto, J.; Tsuruta, T.

1991-01-01

A dose-equivalent response detector based on CR-39 has been designed to be applied for personnel neutron dosimetry. The intrinsic detection efficiency of bare CR-39 was first evaluated from irradiation experiments with monoenergetic neutrons and theoretical calculations. In the second step, the radiator effect was investigated for the purpose of sensitization to fast neutrons. A two-layer radiator consisting of deuterized dotriacontane (C 32 D 66 ) and polyethylene (CH 2 ) was designed. Finally, we made the CR-39 detector sensitive to thermal neutrons by doping with orthocarbone (B 10 H 12 C 2 ), and also estimated the contribution of albedo neutrons. It was found that the new detector - boron-doped CR-39 with the two-layer radiator - would have a flat response with an error of about 70% in a wide energy region, ranging from thermal to 15 MeV. (orig.)

Estimation of neutron energy distributions from prompt gamma emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Panikkath, Priyada; Udupi, Ashwini; Sarkar, P. K.

2017-11-01

A technique of estimating the incident neutron energy distribution from emitted prompt gamma intensities from a system exposed to neutrons is presented. The emitted prompt gamma intensities or the measured photo peaks in a gamma detector are related to the incident neutron energy distribution through a convolution of the response of the system generating the prompt gammas to mono-energetic neutrons. Presently, the system studied is a cylinder of high density polyethylene (HDPE) placed inside another cylinder of borated HDPE (BHDPE) having an outer Pb-cover and exposed to neutrons. The emitted five prompt gamma peaks from hydrogen, boron, carbon and lead can be utilized to unfold the incident neutron energy distribution as an under-determined deconvolution problem. Such an under-determined set of equations are solved using the genetic algorithm based Monte Carlo de-convolution code GAMCD. Feasibility of the proposed technique is demonstrated theoretically using the Monte Carlo calculated response matrix and intensities of emitted prompt gammas from the Pb-covered BHDPE-HDPE system in the case of several incident neutron spectra spanning different energy ranges.

Advances in the solution of three-dimensional nodal neutron transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pazos, Ruben Panta; Hauser, Eliete Biasotto; Vilhena, Marco Tullio de

2003-01-01

In this paper we study the three-dimensional nodal discrete-ordinates approximations of neutron transport equation in a convex domain with piecewise smooth boundaries. We use the combined collocation method of the angular variables and nodal approach for the spatial variables. By nodal approach we mean the iterated transverse integration of the S N equations. This procedure leads to the set of one-dimensional averages angular fluxes in each spatial variable. The resulting system of equations is solved with the LTS N method, first applying the Laplace transform to the set of the nodal S N equations and then obtaining the solution by symbolic computation. We include the LTS N method by diagonalization to solve the nodal neutron transport equation and then we outline the convergence of these nodal-LTS N approximations with the help of a norm associated to the quadrature formula used to approximate the integral term of the neutron transport equation. We give numerical results obtained with an algebraic computer system (for N up to 8) and with a code for higher values of N. We compare our results for the geometry of a box with a source in a vertex and a leakage zone in the opposite with others techniques used in this problem. (author)

Comparison of virtual monoenergetic and polyenergetic images reconstructed from dual-layer detector CT angiography of the head and neck.

Science.gov (United States)

Neuhaus, Victor; Große Hokamp, Nils; Abdullayev, Nuran; Maus, Volker; Kabbasch, Christoph; Mpotsaris, Anastasios; Maintz, David; Borggrefe, Jan

2018-03-01

To compare the image quality of virtual monoenergetic images and polyenergetic images reconstructed from dual-layer detector CT angiography (DLCTA). Thirty patients who underwent DLCTA of the head and neck were retrospectively identified and polyenergetic as well as virtual monoenergetic images (40 to 120 keV) were reconstructed. Signals (± SD) of the cervical and cerebral vessels as well as lateral pterygoid muscle and the air surrounding the head were measured to calculate the CNR and SNR. In addition, subjective image quality was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Student's t-test and Wilcoxon test were used to determine statistical significance. Compared to polyenergetic images, although noise increased with lower keV, CNR (p 0.05) of the cervical, petrous and intracranial vessels were improved in virtual monoenergetic images at 40 keV and virtual monoenergetic images at 45 keV were also rated superior regarding vascular contrast, assessment of arteries close to the skull base and small arterial branches (p virtual monoenergetic images reconstructed from DLCTA at low keV ranging from 40 to 45 keV improve the objective and subjective image quality of extra- and intracranial vessels and facilitate assessment of vessels close to the skull base and of small arterial branches. • Virtual monoenergetic images greatly improve attenuation, while noise only slightly increases. • Virtual monoenergetic images show superior contrast-to-noise ratios compared to polyenergetic images. • Virtual monoenergetic images significantly improve image quality at low keV.

Transport of D-D fusion neutrons in thick concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ku, L.P.; Kolibal, J.G.

1982-07-01

By altering the collision mechanism in the numerical transport calculations, and by constructing an analytical model based on age-diffusion theory, the outstanding feature in the life history of D-D fusion neutrons penetrating deeply into ordinary concrete is shown to be the transport in the 2.3 MeV oxygen anti-resonance. This result is used to assess the impact of the cross-section uncertainties and the uncertainties due to variations in the D-D fusion spectrum and temperature

Positive solution of a time and energy dependent neutron transport problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pao, C.V.

1975-01-01

A constructive method is given for the determination of a solution and an existence--uniqueness theorem for some nonlinear time and energy dependent neutron transport problems, including the linear transport system. The geometry of the medium under consideration is allowed to be either bounded or unbounded which includes the geometry of a finite or infinite cylinder, a half-space and the whole space R/subm/ (m=1,2,center-dotcenter-dotcenter-dot). Our approach to the problem is by successive approximation which leads to various recursion formulas for the approximations in terms of explicit integrations. It is shown under some Lipschitz conditions on the nonlinear functions, which describe the process of neutrons absorption, fission, and scattering, that the sequence of approximations converges to a unique positive solution. Since these conditions are satisfied by the linear transport equation, all the results for the nonlinear system are valid for the linear transport problem. In the general nonlinear problem, the existence of both local and global solutions are discussed, and an iterative process for the construction of the solution is given

Neutron transport calculations of some fast critical assemblies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez-Val Penalosa, J A

1976-07-01

To analyse the influence of the input variables of the transport codes upon the neutronic results (eigenvalues, generation times, . . . ) four Benchmark calculations have been performed. Sensitivity analysis have been applied to express these dependences in a useful way, and also to get an unavoidable experience to carry out calculations achieving the required accuracy and doing them in practical computing times. (Author) 29 refs.

Neutron transport calculations of some fast critical assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez-Val Penalosa, J. A.

1976-01-01

To analyse the influence of the input variables of the transport codes upon the neutronic results (eigenvalues, generation times, . . . ) four Benchmark calculations have been performed. Sensitivity analysis have been applied to express these dependences in a useful way, and also to get an unavoidable experience to carry out calculations achieving the required accuracy and doing them in practical computing times. (Author) 29 refs

Effects of secondary interactions on the dose calculation in treatments with Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monteiro, E.

2004-01-01

The aimed of this work consists of evaluating the influence of the secondary contributions of dose (thermal neutrons dose, epithermal neutrons dose, fast neutrons dose and photon dose) in treatment planning with BNCT. MCNP4B Code was used to calculate RBE-Gy doses through the irradiation of the modified Snyder head head phantom.A reduction of the therapeutical gain of monoenergetic neutron beans was observed in non invasive treatments, provoked for the predominance of the fast neutron dose component in the skin, showing that the secondary contributions of dose can contribute more in the direction to raise the dose in the fabric healthy that in the tumor, thus reducing the treatment efficiency. (author)

Use of basic principle of nucleation in determining temperature-threshold neutron energy relationship in superheated emulsions

CERN Document Server

Das, M; Chatterjee, B K; Roy, S C

2003-01-01

Detection of neutrons through use of superheated emulsions has been known for about two decades. The minimum neutron energy (threshold) required to nucleate drops of a given liquid has a dependence on the temperature of the liquid. The basic principle of nucleation has been utilized to find the relationship between the operating temperature and threshold neutron energy for superheated emulsions made of R-114 liquid. The threshold energy thus determined for different temperatures has been compared with accurate experimental results obtained using monoenergetic neutron sources. The agreement is found to be satisfactory and confirms the applicability of the present simple method to other liquids.

An immersed body method for coupled neutron transport and thermal hydraulic simulations of PWR assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jewer, S.; Buchan, A.G.; Pain, C.C.; Cacuci, D.G.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A new method of coupled radiation transport, heat and momentum exchanges on fluids, and heat transfer simulations. • Simulation of the thermal hydraulics and radiative properties within whole PWR assemblies. • An immersed body method for modelling complex solid domains on practical computational meshes. - Abstract: A recently developed immersed body method is adapted and used to model a typical pressurised water reactor (PWR) fuel assembly. The approach is implemented with the numerical framework of the finite element, transient criticality code, FETCH which is composed of the neutron transport code, EVENT, and the CFD code, FLUIDITY. Within this framework the neutron transport equation, Navier–Stokes equations and a fluid energy conservation equation are solved in a coupled manner on a coincident structured or unstructured mesh. The immersed body method has been used to model the solid fuel pins. The key feature of this method is that the fluid/neutronic domain and the solid domain are represented by overlapping and non-conforming meshes. The main difficulty of this approach, for which a solution is proposed in this work, is the conservative mapping of the energy and momentum exchange between the fluid/neutronic mesh and the solid fuel pin mesh. Three numerical examples are presented which include a validation of the fuel pin submodel against an analytical solution; an uncoupled (no neutron transport solution) PWR fuel assembly model with a specified power distribution which was validated against the COBRA-EN subchannel analysis code; and finally a coupled model of a PWR fuel assembly with reflective neutron boundary conditions. Coupling between the fluid and neutron transport solutions is through the nuclear cross sections dependence on Doppler fuel temperature, coolant density and temperature, which was taken into account by using pre-calculated cross-section lookup tables generated using WIMS9a. The method was found to show good agreement

FMCEIR: a Monte Carlo program for solving the stationary neutron and gamma transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taormina, A.

1978-05-01

FMCEIR is a three-dimensional Monte Carlo program for solving the stationary neutron and gamma transport equation. It is used to study the problem of neutron and gamma streaming in the GCFR and HHT reactor channels. (G.T.H.)

Analytical three-dimensional neutron transport benchmarks for verification of nuclear engineering codes. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.; Kornreich, D.E.

1997-01-01

Because of the requirement of accountability and quality control in the scientific world, a demand for high-quality analytical benchmark calculations has arisen in the neutron transport community. The intent of these benchmarks is to provide a numerical standard to which production neutron transport codes may be compared in order to verify proper operation. The overall investigation as modified in the second year renewal application includes the following three primary tasks. Task 1 on two dimensional neutron transport is divided into (a) single medium searchlight problem (SLP) and (b) two-adjacent half-space SLP. Task 2 on three-dimensional neutron transport covers (a) point source in arbitrary geometry, (b) single medium SLP, and (c) two-adjacent half-space SLP. Task 3 on code verification, includes deterministic and probabilistic codes. The primary aim of the proposed investigation was to provide a suite of comprehensive two- and three-dimensional analytical benchmarks for neutron transport theory applications. This objective has been achieved. The suite of benchmarks in infinite media and the three-dimensional SLP are a relatively comprehensive set of one-group benchmarks for isotropically scattering media. Because of time and resource limitations, the extensions of the benchmarks to include multi-group and anisotropic scattering are not included here. Presently, however, enormous advances in the solution for the planar Green's function in an anisotropically scattering medium have been made and will eventually be implemented in the two- and three-dimensional solutions considered under this grant. Of particular note in this work are the numerical results for the three-dimensional SLP, which have never before been presented. The results presented were made possible only because of the tremendous advances in computing power that have occurred during the past decade

Determination of contraband using fast neutron resonance technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bae, J.; Whang, J. [Kyunghee Univ., Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Yongin-shi, Kyongki-do (Korea, Republic of)

2004-07-01

'Full-text:' Resonance technique with monoenergetic fast neutron beam is able to map features in bulk samples in a way that is sensitive to their elemental composition. It has a number of potential applications, for example, in mining and in the detection of contraband materials such as illicit drugs and explosives. By moving around the neutron detector experiences neutrons in the form of narrow line beam with different energies as the angle to the neutron source changes. Projection data was obtained using the Monte Carlo code MCNP4C. Therefore the fast neutrons scattered from an unknown object are used to determine the elemental content of the object and hence lead to its identification. Scattered features simulated for various test materials are analyzed using the HEPRO program system (PTB, Braunschweig) to determine the atom weight fractions for H. C. N, O and other elements in the materials. Atom weight fractions determined from scattering features are insensitive to neutron interactions in interfering materials surrounding the object. The simulations demonstrate that the fast neutron resonance technique (FNRT) provides reliable elemental characterization of bulk materials and has the necessary sensitivity to distinguish between drugs, explosives and other materials. (author)

Determination of contraband using fast neutron resonance technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, J.; Whang, J.

2004-01-01

'Full-text:' Resonance technique with monoenergetic fast neutron beam is able to map features in bulk samples in a way that is sensitive to their elemental composition. It has a number of potential applications, for example, in mining and in the detection of contraband materials such as illicit drugs and explosives. By moving around the neutron detector experiences neutrons in the form of narrow line beam with different energies as the angle to the neutron source changes. Projection data was obtained using the Monte Carlo code MCNP4C. Therefore the fast neutrons scattered from an unknown object are used to determine the elemental content of the object and hence lead to its identification. Scattered features simulated for various test materials are analyzed using the HEPRO program system (PTB, Braunschweig) to determine the atom weight fractions for H. C. N, O and other elements in the materials. Atom weight fractions determined from scattering features are insensitive to neutron interactions in interfering materials surrounding the object. The simulations demonstrate that the fast neutron resonance technique (FNRT) provides reliable elemental characterization of bulk materials and has the necessary sensitivity to distinguish between drugs, explosives and other materials. (author)

A time-dependent neutron transport model and its coupling to thermal-hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pautz, A.

2001-01-01

A new neutron transport code for time-dependent analyses of nuclear systems has been developed. The code system is based on the well-known Discrete Ordinates code DORT, which solves the steady-state neutron/photon transport equation in two dimensions for an arbitrary number of energy groups and the most common regular geometries. For the implementation of time-dependence a fully implicit first-order scheme was employed to minimize errors due to temporal discretization. This requires various modifications to the transport equation as well as the extensive use of elaborated acceleration mechanisms. The convergence criteria for fluxes, fission rates etc. had to be strongly tightened to ensure the reliability of results. To perform coupled analyses, an interface to the GRS system code ATHLET has been developed. The nodal power densities from the neutron transport code are passed to ATHLET to calculate thermal-hydraulic system parameters, e.g. fuel and coolant temperatures. These are in turn used to generate appropriate nuclear cross sections by interpolation of pre-calculated data sets for each time step. Finally, to demonstrate the transient capabilities of the coupled code system, the research reactor FRM-II has been analysed. Several design basis accidents were modelled, like the loss of off site power, loss of secondary heat sink and unintended control rod withdrawal. (author)

Removal, transportation and disposal of the Millstone 2 neutron thermal shield

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snedeker, D.F.; Thomas, L.S.; Schmoker, D.S.; Cade, M.S.

1985-01-01

Some PWR reactors equipped with neutron thermal shields (NTS) have experienced severe neutron shield degradation to the extent that removal and disposal of these shields has become necessary. Due to the relative size and activation levels of the thermal shield, disposal techniques, remote material handling and transportation equipment must be carefully evaluated to minimize plant down time and maintain disposal costs at a minimum. This paper describes the techniques, equipment and methodology employed in the removal, transportation and disposal of the NTS at the Millstone 2 Nuclear Generating Station, a PWR facility owned and operated by Northeast Utilities of Hartford, CT. Specific areas addressed include: (1) remote underwater equipment and tooling for use in segmenting and loading the thermal shield in a disposal liner; (2) adaptation of the General Electric IF-300 Irradiated Fuel Cask for transportation of the NTS for disposal; (3) equipment and techniques used for cask handling and liner burial at the Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) disposal facility

Material classification by fast neutron scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buffler, A. E-mail: abuffler@physci.uct.ac.za; Brooks, F.D. E-mail: brooks@physci.uct.ac.za; Allie, M.S.; Bharuth-Ram, K.; Nchodu, M.R

2001-02-01

The scattering of a beam of fast monoenergetic neutrons is used to determine elemental compositions of bulk samples (0.2-0.8 kg) of materials composed from one or more of the elements H, C, N, O, Al, S, Fe and Pb. Scattered neutrons are detected by liquid scintillators placed at forward and at backward angles. Different elements are identified by their characteristic scattering signatures derived either from a combination of time-of-flight and pulse height measurements, or from pulse height measurements alone. Scattering signatures measured for multi-element samples are analysed to determine atom fractions for H, C, N, O and other elements in the sample. Atom fractions determined from scattering signatures are insensitive to neutron interactions in material surrounding the scattering sample, provided the amount of material is not excessive. The atom fraction data are used to classify scattering material into categories including 'explosives', 'illicit drugs' and 'other materials' for the purpose of contraband detection.

Error reduction techniques for Monte Carlo neutron transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ju, J.H.W.

1981-01-01

Monte Carlo methods have been widely applied to problems in nuclear physics, mathematical reliability, communication theory, and other areas. The work in this thesis is developed mainly with neutron transport applications in mind. For nuclear reactor and many other applications, random walk processes have been used to estimate multi-dimensional integrals and obtain information about the solution of integral equations. When the analysis is statistically based such calculations are often costly, and the development of efficient estimation techniques plays a critical role in these applications. All of the error reduction techniques developed in this work are applied to model problems. It is found that the nearly optimal parameters selected by the analytic method for use with GWAN estimator are nearly identical to parameters selected by the multistage method. Modified path length estimation (based on the path length importance measure) leads to excellent error reduction in all model problems examined. Finally, it should be pointed out that techniques used for neutron transport problems may be transferred easily to other application areas which are based on random walk processes. The transport problems studied in this dissertation provide exceptionally severe tests of the error reduction potential of any sampling procedure. It is therefore expected that the methods of this dissertation will prove useful in many other application areas

Performance of a PADC personal neutron dosemeter at simulated and real workplace fields of the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiechtner, A.; Boschung, M.; Wernli, C.

2007-01-01

In the framework of the EVIDOS (Evaluation of Individual Dosimetry in Mixed Neutron and Photon Radiation Fields) project, funded by the EC, measurements with PADC personal neutron dosemeters were carried out at several workplace fields of the nuclear industry and at simulated workplace fields. The measured personal neutron dose equivalents of the PADC personal neutron dosemeter are compared with values that were assessed within the EVIDOS project by other partners. The detection limits for different spectra types are given. In cases were the neutron dose was too low to be measured by the PADC personal neutron dosemeter, the response is estimated by convoluting the responses to monoenergetic neutrons with the dose energy distribution measured within EVIDOS. The advantages and limitations of the PADC personal neutron dosemeter are discussed. (authors)

Rapid Measurement of Neutron Dose Rate for Transport Index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, R.L.

2000-01-01

A newly available neutron dose equivalent remmeter with improved sensitivity and energy response has been put into service at Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS). This instrument is being used to expedite measurement of the Transport Index and as an ALARA tool to identify locations where slightly elevated neutron dose equivalent rates exist. The meter is capable of measuring dose rates as low as 0.2 μSv per hour (20 μrem per hour). Tests of the angular response and energy response of the instrument are reported. Calculations of the theoretical instrument response made using MCNPtrademark are reported for materials typical of those being shipped

Comparison of analytical transport and stochastic solutions for neutron slowing down in an infinite medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jahshan, S.N.; Wemple, C.A.; Ganapol, B.D.

1993-01-01

A comparison of the numerical solutions of the transport equation describing the steady neutron slowing down in an infinite medium with constant cross sections is made with stochastic solutions obtained from tracking successive neutron histories in the same medium. The transport equation solution is obtained using a numerical Laplace transform inversion algorithm. The basis for the algorithm is an evaluation of the Bromwich integral without analytical continuation. Neither the transport nor the stochastic solution is limited in the number of scattering species allowed. The medium may contain an absorption component as well. (orig.)

Study on the neutron dosimetric characteristics of Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nunomiya, T.; Kim, E.; Kurosawa, T.; Taniguchi, S.; Nakamura, T. [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center; Tsujimura, N.; Momose, T.; Shinohara, K. [Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Inst., Environment and Safety Division, Tokai Works, Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan)

1999-03-01

The neutron dosimetric characteristics of TEPC (Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter) has been investigated under a cooperative study between Tohoku University and JNC since 1997. This TEPC is a spherical, large volume, single-wire proportional counter (the model LETSW-5, manufactured by Far West Technology, Inc.) and filled with a tissue equivalent gas in a spherical detector of the A-150 tissue equivalent plastic. The TEPC can measure the spectra of absorbed dose in LET and easily estimate the tissue equivalent dose to neutron. This report summarizes the dosimetric characteristics of TEPC to the monoenergetic neutrons with energy from 8 keV to 15 MeV. It is found that TEPC can estimate the ambient dose equivalent, H*(10), with an accuracy from 0.9 to 2 to the neutron above 0.25 MeV and TEPC has a good counting efficiency enough to measure neutron doses with low dose rate at the stray neutron fields. (author)

Transmutation approximations for the application of hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic neutron transport to shutdown dose rate analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biondo, Elliott D.; Wilson, Paul P. H.

2017-01-01

In fusion energy systems (FES) neutrons born from burning plasma activate system components. The photon dose rate after shutdown from resulting radionuclides must be quantified. This shutdown dose rate (SDR) is calculated by coupling neutron transport, activation analysis, and photon transport. The size, complexity, and attenuating configuration of FES motivate the use of hybrid Monte Carlo (MC)/deterministic neutron transport. The Multi-Step Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (MS-CADIS) method can be used to optimize MC neutron transport for coupled multiphysics problems, including SDR analysis, using deterministic estimates of adjoint flux distributions. When used for SDR analysis, MS-CADIS requires the formulation of an adjoint neutron source that approximates the transmutation process. In this work, transmutation approximations are used to derive a solution for this adjoint neutron source. It is shown that these approximations are reasonably met for typical FES neutron spectra and materials over a range of irradiation scenarios. When these approximations are met, the Groupwise Transmutation (GT)-CADIS method, proposed here, can be used effectively. GT-CADIS is an implementation of the MS-CADIS method for SDR analysis that uses a series of single-energy-group irradiations to calculate the adjoint neutron source. For a simple SDR problem, GT-CADIS provides speedups of 200 100 relative to global variance reduction with the Forward-Weighted (FW)-CADIS method and 9 _± 5 • _1_0_"_4 relative to analog. As a result, this work shows that GT-CADIS is broadly applicable to FES problems and will significantly reduce the computational resources necessary for SDR analysis.

Application of synthetic diffusion method in the numerical solution of the equations of neutron transport in slab geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valdes Parra, J.J.

1986-01-01

One of the main problems in reactor physics is to determine the neutron distribution in reactor core, since knowing that, it is possible to calculate the rapidity of occurrence of different nuclear reaction inside the reactor core. Within different theories existing in nuclear reactor physics, is neutron transport the one in which equation who govern the exact behavior of neutronic distribution are developed even inside the proper neutron transport theory, there exist different methods of solution which are approximations to exact solution; still more, with the purpose to reach a more precise solution, the majority of methods have been approached to the obtention of solutions in numerical form with the aim of take the advantages of modern computers, and for this reason a great deal of effort is dedicated to numerical solution of the equations of neutron transport. In agreement with the above mentioned, in this work has been developed a computer program which uses a relatively new techniques known as 'acceleration of synthetic diffusion' which has been applied to solve the neutron transport equation with 'classical schemes of spatial integration' obtaining results with a smaller quantity of interactions, if they compare to done without using such equation (Author)

Value of monoenergetic dual-energy CT (DECT) for artefact reduction from metallic orthopedic implants in post-mortem studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Filograna, Laura; Magarelli, Nicola; Leone, Antonio; Guggenberger, Roman; Winklhofer, Sebastian; Thali, Michael John; Bonomo, Lorenzo

2015-09-01

The aim of this ex vivo study was to assess the performance of monoenergetic dual-energy CT (DECT) reconstructions to reduce metal artefacts in bodies with orthopedic devices in comparison with standard single-energy CT (SECT) examinations in forensic imaging. Forensic and clinical impacts of this study are also discussed. Thirty metallic implants in 20 consecutive cadavers with metallic implants underwent both SECT and DECT with a clinically suitable scanning protocol. Extrapolated monoenergetic DECT images at 64, 69, 88, 105, 120, and 130 keV and individually adjusted monoenergy for optimized image quality (OPTkeV) were generated. Image quality of the seven monoenergetic images and of the corresponding SECT image was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively by visual rating and measurements of attenuation changes induced by streak artefact. Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed statistically significant differences between monoenergetic DECT extrapolated images and SECT, with improvements in diagnostic assessment in monoenergetic DECT at higher monoenergies. The mean value of OPTkeV was 137.6 ± 4.9 with a range of 130 to 148 keV. This study demonstrates that monoenergetic DECT images extrapolated at high energy levels significantly reduce metallic artefacts from orthopedic implants and improve image quality compared to SECT examination in forensic imaging.

Value of monoenergetic dual-energy CT (DECT) for artefact reduction from metallic orthopedic implants in post-mortem studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Filograna, Laura [University of Zurich, Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Zurich (Switzerland); Catholic University of Rome, School of Medicine, University Hospital ' ' A. Gemelli' ' , Department of Radiological Sciences, Rome (Italy); Magarelli, Nicola; Leone, Antonio; Bonomo, Lorenzo [Catholic University of Rome, School of Medicine, University Hospital ' ' A. Gemelli' ' , Department of Radiological Sciences, Rome (Italy); Guggenberger, Roman; Winklhofer, Sebastian [University Hospital Zurich, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Zurich (Switzerland); Thali, Michael John [University of Zurich, Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Zurich (Switzerland)

2015-09-15

The aim of this ex vivo study was to assess the performance of monoenergetic dual-energy CT (DECT) reconstructions to reduce metal artefacts in bodies with orthopedic devices in comparison with standard single-energy CT (SECT) examinations in forensic imaging. Forensic and clinical impacts of this study are also discussed. Thirty metallic implants in 20 consecutive cadavers with metallic implants underwent both SECT and DECT with a clinically suitable scanning protocol. Extrapolated monoenergetic DECT images at 64, 69, 88, 105, 120, and 130 keV and individually adjusted monoenergy for optimized image quality (OPTkeV) were generated. Image quality of the seven monoenergetic images and of the corresponding SECT image was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively by visual rating and measurements of attenuation changes induced by streak artefact. Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed statistically significant differences between monoenergetic DECT extrapolated images and SECT, with improvements in diagnostic assessment in monoenergetic DECT at higher monoenergies. The mean value of OPTkeV was 137.6 ± 4.9 with a range of 130 to 148 keV. This study demonstrates that monoenergetic DECT images extrapolated at high energy levels significantly reduce metallic artefacts from orthopedic implants and improve image quality compared to SECT examination in forensic imaging. (orig.)

Value of monoenergetic dual-energy CT (DECT) for artefact reduction from metallic orthopedic implants in post-mortem studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filograna, Laura; Magarelli, Nicola; Leone, Antonio; Bonomo, Lorenzo; Guggenberger, Roman; Winklhofer, Sebastian; Thali, Michael John

2015-01-01

The aim of this ex vivo study was to assess the performance of monoenergetic dual-energy CT (DECT) reconstructions to reduce metal artefacts in bodies with orthopedic devices in comparison with standard single-energy CT (SECT) examinations in forensic imaging. Forensic and clinical impacts of this study are also discussed. Thirty metallic implants in 20 consecutive cadavers with metallic implants underwent both SECT and DECT with a clinically suitable scanning protocol. Extrapolated monoenergetic DECT images at 64, 69, 88, 105, 120, and 130 keV and individually adjusted monoenergy for optimized image quality (OPTkeV) were generated. Image quality of the seven monoenergetic images and of the corresponding SECT image was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively by visual rating and measurements of attenuation changes induced by streak artefact. Qualitative and quantitative analyses showed statistically significant differences between monoenergetic DECT extrapolated images and SECT, with improvements in diagnostic assessment in monoenergetic DECT at higher monoenergies. The mean value of OPTkeV was 137.6 ± 4.9 with a range of 130 to 148 keV. This study demonstrates that monoenergetic DECT images extrapolated at high energy levels significantly reduce metallic artefacts from orthopedic implants and improve image quality compared to SECT examination in forensic imaging. (orig.)

Neutron spectrometry with artificial neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vega C, H.R.; Hernandez D, V.M.; Manzanares A, E.; Rodriguez, J.M.; Mercado S, G.A.; Iniguez de la Torre Bayo, M.P.; Barquero, R.; Arteaga A, T.

2005-01-01

An artificial neural network has been designed to obtain the neutron spectra from the Bonner spheres spectrometer's count rates. The neural network was trained using 129 neutron spectra. These include isotopic neutron sources; reference and operational spectra from accelerators and nuclear reactors, spectra from mathematical functions as well as few energy groups and monoenergetic spectra. The spectra were transformed from lethargy to energy distribution and were re-bin ned to 31 energy groups using the MCNP 4C code. Re-binned spectra and UTA4 response matrix were used to calculate the expected count rates in Bonner spheres spectrometer. These count rates were used as input and the respective spectrum was used as output during neural network training. After training the network was tested with the Bonner spheres count rates produced by a set of neutron spectra. This set contains data used during network training as well as data not used. Training and testing was carried out in the Mat lab program. To verify the network unfolding performance the original and unfolded spectra were compared using the χ 2 -test and the total fluence ratios. The use of Artificial Neural Networks to unfold neutron spectra in neutron spectrometry is an alternative procedure that overcomes the drawbacks associated in this ill-conditioned problem. (Author)

Measurements of neutron spallation cross section. 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, E.; Nakamura, T. [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center; Imamura, M.; Nakao, N.; Shibata, S.; Uwamino, Y.; Nakanishi, N.; Tanaka, Su.

1997-03-01

Neutron spallation cross section of {sup 59}Co(n,xn){sup 60-x}Co, {sup nat}Cu(n,sp){sup 56}Mn, {sup nat}Cu(n,sp){sup 58}Co, {sup nat}Cu(n,xn){sup 60}Cu, {sup nat}Cu(n,xn){sup 61}Cu and {sup nat}Cu(n,sp){sup 65}Ni was measured in the quasi-monoenergetic p-Li neutron fields in the energy range above 40 MeV which have been established at three AVF cyclotron facilities of (1) INS of Univ. of Tokyo, (2) TIARA of JAERI and (3) RIKEN. Our experimental data were compared with the ENDF/B-VI high energy file data by Fukahori and the calculated cross section data by Odano. (author)

Calculated characteristics of subcritical assembly with anisotropic transport of neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorin, N.V.; Lipilina, E.N.; Lyutov, V.D.; Saukov, A.I.

2003-01-01

There was considered possibility of creating enough sub-critical system that multiply neutron fluence from a primary source by many orders. For assemblies with high neutron tie between parts, it is impossible. That is why there was developed a construction consisting of many units (cascades) having weak feedback with preceding cascades. The feedback attenuation was obtained placing layers of slow neutron absorber and moderators between the cascades of fission material. Anisotropy of fast neutron transport through the layers was used. The system consisted of many identical cascades aligning one by another. Each cascade consists of layers of moderator, fissile material and absorber of slow neutrons. The calculations were carried out using the code MCNP.4a with nuclear data library ENDF/B5. In this construction neutrons spread predominantly in one direction multiplying in each next fissile layer, and they attenuate considerably in the opposite direction. In a calculated construction, multiplication factor of one cascade is about 1.5 and multiplication factor of whole construction composed of n cascades is 1.5 n . Calculated keff value is 0.9 for one cascade and does not exceed 0.98 for a system containing any number of cascades. Therefore the assembly is always sub-critical and therefore it is safe in respect of criticality. There was considered using such a sub-critical assembly to create a powerful neutron fluence for neutron boron-capturing therapy. The system merits and demerits were discussed. (authors)

Discrete elements method of neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathews, K.A.

1988-01-01

In this paper a new neutron transport method, called discrete elements (L N ) is derived and compared to discrete ordinates methods, theoretically and by numerical experimentation. The discrete elements method is based on discretizing the Boltzmann equation over a set of elements of angle. The discrete elements method is shown to be more cost-effective than discrete ordinates, in terms of accuracy versus execution time and storage, for the cases tested. In a two-dimensional test case, a vacuum duct in a shield, the L N method is more consistently convergent toward a Monte Carlo benchmark solution

Importance estimation in Monte Carlo modelling of neutron and photon transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mickael, M.W.

1992-01-01

The estimation of neutron and photon importance in a three-dimensional geometry is achieved using a coupled Monte Carlo and diffusion theory calculation. The parameters required for the solution of the multigroup adjoint diffusion equation are estimated from an analog Monte Carlo simulation of the system under investigation. The solution of the adjoint diffusion equation is then used as an estimate of the particle importance in the actual simulation. This approach provides an automated and efficient variance reduction method for Monte Carlo simulations. The technique has been successfully applied to Monte Carlo simulation of neutron and coupled neutron-photon transport in the nuclear well-logging field. The results show that the importance maps obtained in a few minutes of computer time using this technique are in good agreement with Monte Carlo generated importance maps that require prohibitive computing times. The application of this method to Monte Carlo modelling of the response of neutron porosity and pulsed neutron instruments has resulted in major reductions in computation time. (Author)

Some results on the neutron transport and the coupling of equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bal, G.

1997-01-01

Neutron transport in nuclear reactors is well modeled by the linear Boltzmann transport equation. Its resolution is relatively easy but very expensive. To achieve whole core calculations, one has to consider simpler models, such as diffusion or homogeneous transport equations. However, the solutions may become inaccurate in particular situations (as accidents for instance). That is the reason why we wish to solve the equations on small area accurately and more coarsely on the remaining part of the core. It is than necessary to introduce some links between different discretizations or modelizations. In this note, we give some results on the coupling of different discretizations of all degrees of freedom of the integral-differential neutron transport equation (two degrees for the angular variable, on for the energy component, and two or three degrees for spatial position respectively in 2D (cylindrical symmetry) and 3D). Two chapters are devoted to the coupling of discrete ordinates methods (for angular discretization). The first one is theoretical and shows the well posing of the coupled problem, whereas the second one deals with numerical applications of practical interest (the results have been obtained from the neutron transport code developed at the R and D, which has been modified for introducing the coupling). Next, we present the nodal scheme RTN0, used for the spatial discretization. We show well posing results for the non-coupled and the coupled problems. At the end, we deal with the coupling of energy discretizations for the multigroup equations obtained by homogenization. Some theoretical results of the discretization of the velocity variable (well-posing of problems), which do not deal directly with the purposes of coupling, are presented in the annexes. (author)

Direct integration multiple collision integral transport analysis method for high energy fusion neutronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koch, K.R.

1985-01-01

A new analysis method specially suited for the inherent difficulties of fusion neutronics was developed to provide detailed studies of the fusion neutron transport physics. These studies should provide a better understanding of the limitations and accuracies of typical fusion neutronics calculations. The new analysis method is based on the direct integration of the integral form of the neutron transport equation and employs a continuous energy formulation with the exact treatment of the energy angle kinematics of the scattering process. In addition, the overall solution is analyzed in terms of uncollided, once-collided, and multi-collided solution components based on a multiple collision treatment. Furthermore, the numerical evaluations of integrals use quadrature schemes that are based on the actual dependencies exhibited in the integrands. The new DITRAN computer code was developed on the Cyber 205 vector supercomputer to implement this direct integration multiple-collision fusion neutronics analysis. Three representative fusion reactor models were devised and the solutions to these problems were studied to provide suitable choices for the numerical quadrature orders as well as the discretized solution grid and to understand the limitations of the new analysis method. As further verification and as a first step in assessing the accuracy of existing fusion-neutronics calculations, solutions obtained using the new analysis method were compared to typical multigroup discrete ordinates calculations

Solution and study of nodal neutron transport equation applying the LTSN-DiagExp method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hauser, Eliete Biasotto; Pazos, Ruben Panta; Vilhena, Marco Tullio de; Barros, Ricardo Carvalho de

2003-01-01

In this paper we report advances about the three-dimensional nodal discrete-ordinates approximations of neutron transport equation for Cartesian geometry. We use the combined collocation method of the angular variables and nodal approach for the spatial variables. By nodal approach we mean the iterated transverse integration of the S N equations. This procedure leads to the set of one-dimensional averages angular fluxes in each spatial variable. The resulting system of equations is solved with the LTS N method, first applying the Laplace transform to the set of the nodal S N equations and then obtained the solution by symbolic computation. We include the LTS N method by diagonalization to solve the nodal neutron transport equation and then we outline the convergence of these nodal-LTS N approximations with the help of a norm associated to the quadrature formula used to approximate the integral term of the neutron transport equation. (author)

Development and characterization of real-time wide-energy range personal neutron dosimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakamura, Takashi; Tsujimura, Norio (Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center); Yamano, Toshiya; Suzuki, Toshikazu; Okamoto, Eisuke

1994-04-01

The authors developed a real-time personal neutron dosimeter which could give neutron dose equivalent over wide energy region from thermal to 10 odd MeV by using 2 silicon detectors, fast neutron sensor and slow neutron sensor. The energy response of this dosimeter was evaluated under thermal neutron field, monoenergetic neutron field between 200 keV and 15 MeV, and moderated [sup 252]Cf neutron field. The neutron dose equivalent was estimated by adding neutron dose equivalent below 1 MeV given by slow neutron sensor and that above 1 MeV by fast neutron sensor. It was verified from various field tests that this dosimeter is able to give neutron dose equivalent within a factor of 2 margin of accuracy in reactor, accelerator, fusion research and nuclear fuel handling facilities. This dosimeter has more than one order higher sensitivity than conventional personal neutron dosimeters and is insensitive to [gamma]-rays up to about 500 mSv/h. This dosimeter will soon be commercially available as a personal dosimeter which gives neutron and [gamma]-ray dose equivalents simultaneously by installing [gamma]-ray silicon sensor. (author).

Spectral flux of the p-7Li(C Q-M neutron source measured by proton recoil telescope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simakov S.P.

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The cyclotron-based fast neutron source at NPI produces mono-energetic neutron fields up to 35 MeV neutron energy using the p + 7Li(carbon backing reactions. To be applied for activation cross-section measurements, not only the intensity of neutron peak, but also the contribution of low-energy continuum in the spectra must be well determined. Simulations of the spectral flux from present source at a position of irradiated samples were performed using CYRIC TOF-data validated in the present work against LA150h by calculations with the transport Monte Carlo code MCNPX. Simulated spectra were tested by absolute measurements using a proton-recoil telescope technique. The recoil-proton spectrometer consisted of a shielded scattering chamber with polyethylene and carbon radiators and the ΔE1-ΔE2-E telescope of silicon-surface detectors located to the neutron beam axis at 45° in the laboratory system. Si-detectors were handled by usual data acquisition system. Dead-time – and pulse-overlap losses of events were determined from the count rate of pulse generator registered during duty cycle of accelerator operation. The proton beam charge and data were taken in the list mode for later replay and analysis. The calculations for 7Li(p,n and 12C(p,n reactions reasonably reproduce CYRIC TOF neutron source spectra. The influence of neutron source set-up (proton beam dimensions, 7Li-foil, carbon stopper, cooling medium, target support/chamber and the geometry-arrangement of irradiated sample on the spectral flux is discussed in details.

Use of the light-water neutron scattering kernel in the study of neutron transport processes in mixtures of light and heavy water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tewari, S.P.

1975-01-01

A method of studying neutron transport properties in H 2 O-D 2 O mixtures, both liquid and solid, which extrapolates the neutron thermalization parameters of H 2 O is described. The decay of pulsed neutrons in the media has been investigated as an example of the application of the method. The results of the calcutions agree with the experiment for concentrations up to 50 percent D 2 O. (1 figure) (U.S.)

Application of Trotter approximation for solving time dependent neutron transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stancic, V.

1987-01-01

A method is proposed to solve multigroup time dependent neutron transport equation with arbitrary scattering anisotropy. The recurrence relation thus obtained is simple, numerically stable and especially suitable for treatment of complicated geometries. (author)

Calibration of Cherenkov detectors for monoenergetic photon imaging in active interrogation applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rose, P.B., E-mail: prose6@gatech.edu; Erickson, A.S., E-mail: anna.erickson@me.gatech.edu

2015-11-01

Active interrogation of cargo containers using monoenergetic photons offers a rapid and low-dose approach to search for shielded special nuclear materials. Cherenkov detectors can be used for imaging of the cargo provided that gamma ray energies used in interrogation are well resolved, as the case in {sup 11}B(d,n-γ){sup 12}C reaction resulting in 4.4 MeV and 15.1 MeV photons. While an array of Cherenkov threshold detectors reduces low energy background from scatter while providing the ability of high contrast transmission imaging, thus confirming the presence of high-Z materials, these detectors require a special approach to energy calibration due to the lack of resolution. In this paper, we discuss the utility of Cherenkov detectors for active interrogation with monoenergetic photons as well as the results of computational and experimental studies of their energy calibration. The results of the studies with sources emitting monoenergetic photons as well as complex gamma ray spectrum sources, for example {sup 232}Th, show that calibration is possible as long as the energies of photons of interest are distinct.

Accuracy estimation for intermediate and low energy neutron transport calculation with Monte Carlo code MCNP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotegawa, Hiroshi; Sasamoto, Nobuo; Tanaka, Shun-ichi

1987-02-01

Both ''measured radioactive inventory due to neutron activation in the shield concrete of JPDR'' and ''measured intermediate and low energy neutron spectra penetrating through a graphite sphere'' are analyzed using a continuous energy model Monte Carlo code MCNP so as to estimate calculational accuracy of the code for neutron transport in thermal and epithermal energy regions. Analyses reveal that MCNP calculates thermal neutron spectra fairly accurately, while it apparently over-estimates epithermal neutron spectra (of approximate 1/E distribution) as compared with the measurements. (author)

Radiation transport calculations for the ANS [Advanced Neutron Source] beam tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engle, W.W. Jr.; Lillie, R.A.; Slater, C.O.

1988-01-01

The Advanced Neutron Source facility (ANS) will incorporate a large number of both radial and no-line-of-sight (NLS) beam tubes to provide very large thermal neutron fluxes to experimental facilities. The purpose of this work was to obtain comparisons for the ANS single- and split-core designs of the thermal and damage neutron and gamma-ray scalar fluxes in these beams tubes. For experimental locations far from the reactor cores, angular flux data are required; however, for close-in experimental locations, the scalar fluxes within each beam tube provide a credible estimate of the various signal to noise ratios. In this paper, the coupled two- and three-dimensional radiation transport calculations employed to estimate the scalar neutron and gamma-ray fluxes will be described and the results from these calculations will be discussed. 6 refs., 2 figs

A domian Decomposition Method for Transient Neutron Transport with Pomrning-Eddington Approximation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendi, A.A.; Abulwafa, E.E.

2008-01-01

The time-dependent neutron transport problem is approximated using the Pomraning-Eddington approximation. This approximation is two-flux approximation that expands the angular intensity in terms of the energy density and the net flux. This approximation converts the integro-differential Boltzmann equation into two first order differential equations. The A domian decomposition method that used to solve the linear or nonlinear differential equations is used to solve the resultant two differential equations to find the neutron energy density and net flux, which can be used to calculate the neutron angular intensity through the Pomraning-Eddington approximation

Neutron transport calculation for Activation Evaluation for Decommissioning of PET cyclotron Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Nobuhara, Fumiyoshi; Kuroyanagi, Makoto; Masumoto, Kazuyoshi; Nakamura, Hajime; Toyoda, Akihiro; Takahashi, Katsuhiko

2017-09-01

In order to evaluate the state of activation in a cyclotron facility used for the radioisotope production of PET diagnostics, we measured the neutron flux by using gold foils and TLDs. Then, the spatial distribution of neutrons and induced activity inside the cyclotron vault were simulated with the Monte Calro calculation code for neutron transport and DCHAIN-SP for activation calculation. The calculated results are in good agreement with measured values within factor 3. Therefore, the adaption of the advanced evaluation procedure for activation level is proved to be important for the planning of decommissioning of these facilities.

The potential of detecting intermediate-scale biomass and canopy interception in a coniferous forest using cosmic-ray neutron intensity measurements and neutron transport modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Andreasen, M.; Looms, M. C.; Bogena, H. R.; Desilets, D.; Zreda, M. G.; Sonnenborg, T. O.; Jensen, K. H.

2014-12-01

The water stored in the various compartments of the terrestrial ecosystem (in snow, canopy interception, soil and litter) controls the exchange of the water and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere. Therefore, measurements of the water stored within these pools are critical for the prediction of e.g. evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge. The detection of cosmic-ray neutron intensity is a novel non-invasive method for the quantification of continuous intermediate-scale soil moisture. The footprint of the cosmic-ray neutron probe is a hemisphere of a few hectometers and subsurface depths of 10-70 cm depending on wetness. The cosmic-ray neutron method offers measurements at a scale between the point-scale measurements and large-scale satellite retrievals. The cosmic-ray neutron intensity is inversely correlated to the hydrogen stored within the footprint. Overall soil moisture represents the largest pool of hydrogen and changes in the soil moisture clearly affect the cosmic-ray neutron signal. However, the neutron intensity is also sensitive to variations of hydrogen in snow, canopy interception and biomass offering the potential to determine water content in such pools from the signal. In this study we tested the potential of determining canopy interception and biomass using cosmic-ray neutron intensity measurements within the framework of the Danish Hydrologic Observatory (HOBE) and the Terrestrial Environmental Observatories (TERENO). Continuous measurements at the ground and the canopy level, along with profile measurements were conducted at towers at forest field sites. Field experiments, including shielding the cosmic-ray neutron probes with cadmium foil (to remove lower-energy neutrons) and measuring reference intensity rates at complete water saturated conditions (on the sea close to the HOBE site), were further conducted to obtain an increased understanding of the physics controlling the cosmic-ray neutron transport and the equipment used

Neutron-induced reactions on U and Th - A new approach via AMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wallner, A.; Capote, R.; Christl, M.; Fifield, L.K.; Srncik, M.; Tims, S.; Hotchkis, M.; Krasa, A.; Lachner, J.; Lippold, J.; Plompen, A.; Semkova, V.; Steier, P.; Winkler, S.

2014-01-01

Recent studies exhibit discrepancies at keV and MeV energies between major nuclear data libraries for 238 U(n,γ), 232 Th(n,γ) and also for (n,xn) reactions. We have extended our initial (n,γ) measurements on 235,238 U to higher neutron energies and to additional reaction channels. Neutron-induced reactions on 232 Th and 238 U were measured by a combination of the activation technique and atom counting of the reaction products using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Natural thorium and uranium samples were activated with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons at IRMM. Neutron capture data were produced for neutron energies between 0.5 and 5 MeV. Fast neutron-induced reactions were studied in the energy range from 17 to 22 MeV. Preliminary data indicate a fair agreement with data libraries; however at the lower band of existing data. This approach represents a complementary method to on-line particle detection techniques and also to conventional decay counting. (authors)

Discontinuous nodal schemes applied to the bidimensional neutron transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delfin L, A.; Valle G, E. Del; Hennart B, J.P.

1996-01-01

In this paper several strong discontinuous nodal schemes are described, starting from the one that has only two interpolation parameters per cell to the one having ten. Their application to the spatial discretization of the neutron transport equation in X-Y geometry is also described, giving, for each one of the nodal schemes, the approximation for the angular neutron flux that includes the set of interpolation parameters and the corresponding polynomial space. Numerical results were obtained for several test problems presenting here the problem with the highest degree of difficulty and their comparison with published results 1,2 . (Author)

RADHEAT-V3, a code system for generating coupled neutron and gamma-ray group constants and analyzing radiation transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koyama, Kinji; Taji, Yukichi; Miyasaka, Shun-ichi; Minami, Kazuyoshi.

1977-07-01

The modular code system RADHEAT is for producing coupled multigroup neutron and gamma-ray cross section sets, analyzing the neutron and gamma-ray transport, and calculating the energy deposition and atomic displacements due to these radiations in a nuclear reactor or shield. The basic neutron cross sections and secondary gamma-ray production data are taken from ENDF/B and POPOP4 libraries respectively. The system (1) generates multigroup neutron cross sections, energy deposition coefficients and atomic displacement factors due to neutron reactions, (2) generates multigroup gamma-ray cross sections and energy transfer coefficients, (3) generates secondary gamma-ray production cross sections, (4) combines these cross sections into the coupled set, (5) outputs and updates the multigroup cross section libraries in convenient formats for other transport codes, (6) analyzes the neutron and gamma-ray transport and calculates the energy deposition and the number density of atomic displacements in a medium, (7) collapses the cross sections to a broad-group structure, by option, using the weighting functions obtained by one-dimensional transport calculation, and (8) plots, by option, multigroup cross sections, and neutron and gamma-ray distributions. Definitions of the input data required in various options of the code system are also given. (auth.)

Note: A monoenergetic proton backlighter for the National Ignition Facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rygg, J. R.; LePape, S.; Bachmann, B.; Khan, S. F.; Sayre, D. B. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551 (United States); Zylstra, A. B.; Séguin, F. H.; Gatu-Johnson, M.; Lahmann, B. J.; Petrasso, R. D.; Sio, H. W. [Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Craxton, R. S.; Garcia, E. M.; Kong, Y. Z.; McKenty, P. W. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States); Rinderknecht, H. G. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551 (United States); Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Rosenberg, M. J. [Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)

2015-11-15

A monoenergetic, isotropic proton source suitable for proton radiography applications has been demonstrated at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). A deuterium and helium-3 gas-filled glass capsule was imploded with 39 kJ of laser energy from 24 of NIF’s 192 beams. Spectral, spatial, and temporal measurements of the 15-MeV proton product of the {sup 3}He(d,p){sup 4}He nuclear reaction reveal a bright (10{sup 10} protons/sphere), monoenergetic (ΔE/E = 4%) spectrum with a compact size (80 μm) and isotropic emission (∼13% proton fluence variation and <0.4% mean energy variation). Simultaneous measurements of products produced by the D(d,p)T and D(d,n){sup 3}He reactions also show 2 × 10{sup 10} isotropically distributed 3-MeV protons.

Exposure times and ratio of readings produced by irradiation of thermoluminescence dosemeters in PTB neutron standard fields between 0.1 MeV and 19 MeV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jahr, R.; Guldbakke, S.; Cosack, M.

1979-06-01

6 LiF and 7 LiF thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) irradiated in a standard field of monoenergetic neutrons (Esub(n) = 0.1 MeV to 19 MeV), respond as well to the photon as to the neutron component of this radiation field. The ratio of the two TLD readings as well as the duration of irradiation required to obtain a preset TLD reading are calculated as a function of the neutron energy. (orig.) [de

Source of monoenergetic electrons for beta dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graham, C.L.; Elliott, J.H.

1983-01-01

We have developed an electron spectrometer which can produce a continuous beam of monoenergetic electrons. The spectrometer uses 20 millicuries of Cs-137 as a source of electrons which can be magnetically focused at the exit port. Various electron energies can be selected by changing the magnetic field. The maximum electron energy and dose rate for the present design are approximately 630 keV and 1.5 rads per hour, respectively

Monte Carlo study of the mechanisms of transport of fast neutrons in various media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ku, L.

1976-01-01

The technique of analyzing Monte Carlo histories was used to study the details of neutron transport and slowing down mechanisms. The statistical properties of life histories of ''exceptional'' neutrons, i.e., those staying closer to the source or penetrating to larger distances from the source, were compared to those of the general population. The macroscopic behavior of ''exceptional'' neutrons was also related to the interaction mechanics and to the microscopic properties of the medium

Practical implications of neutron survey instrument performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanner, R. J.; Bartlett, D. T.; Hager, I. G.; Jones, I. N.; Molinos, C.; Roberts, N. J.; Taylor, G. C.; Thomas, D. J.

2004-01-01

Improvements have been made to the Monte Carlo modelling used to calculate the response of the neutron survey instruments most commonly used in the UK, for neutron energies up to 20 MeV. The improved modelling of the devices includes the electronics and battery pack, allowing better calculations of both the energy and angle dependence of response. These data are used to calculate the response of the instruments in rotationally and fully isotropic, as well as unidirectional fields. Experimental measurements with radionuclide sources and monoenergetic neutron fields have been, and continue to be made, to test the calculated response characteristics. The enhancements to the calculations have involved simulation of the sensitivity of the response to variations in instrument manufacture, and will include the influence of the user and floor during measurements. The practical implications of the energy and angle dependence of response, variations in manufacture, and the influence of the user are assessed by folding the response characteristics with workplace energy and direction distributions. (authors)

Neutron capture and (n,2n) measurements on {sup 241}Am

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vieira, D.J.; Jandel, M.; Bredeweg, T.A.; Bond, E.M.; Clement, R.R.; Couture, A.; Haight, R.C.; O' Donnell, J.M.; Reifarth, R.; Rundberg, R.S.; Ullmann, J.L.; Wilhelmy, J.B.; Wouters, J.M. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM (United States); Tonchev, A.P.; Hutcheson, A.; Angell, C.T.; Crowell, A.S.; Fallin, B.; Hammond, S.; Howell, C.R.; Karowowski, H.J.; Kelley, J.H.; Pedroni, R.; Tornow, W. [Triangle Univ. Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC (United States); Macri, R.A.; Agvaanluvsan, U.; Becker, J.A.; Dashdorj, D.; Stoyer, M.A.; Wu, C.Y. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA (United States)

2008-07-01

We report on a set of neutron-induced reaction measurements on {sup 241}Am which are important for nuclear forensics and advanced nuclear reactor design. Neutron capture measurements have been performed on the DANCE detector array at the Los Alamos Neutron Scattering Center (LANSCE). In general, good agreement is found with the most recent data evaluations up to an incident neutron energy of about 300 keV where background limits the measurement. Using mono-energetic neutrons produced in the {sup 2}H(d,n){sup 3}He reaction at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL), we have measured the {sup 241}Am(n,2n) excitation function from 7.6 to 14.5 MeV using the activation method. Good agreement is found with previous measurements, with the exception of the three data points reported by Perdikakis et al. around 11 MeV, where we obtain a much lower cross section that is more consistent with theoretical estimates. (authors)

Guideline of Monte Carlo calculation. Neutron/gamma ray transport simulation by Monte Carlo method

CERN Document Server

2002-01-01

This report condenses basic theories and advanced applications of neutron/gamma ray transport calculations in many fields of nuclear energy research. Chapters 1 through 5 treat historical progress of Monte Carlo methods, general issues of variance reduction technique, cross section libraries used in continuous energy Monte Carlo codes. In chapter 6, the following issues are discussed: fusion benchmark experiments, design of ITER, experiment analyses of fast critical assembly, core analyses of JMTR, simulation of pulsed neutron experiment, core analyses of HTTR, duct streaming calculations, bulk shielding calculations, neutron/gamma ray transport calculations of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Chapters 8 and 9 treat function enhancements of MCNP and MVP codes, and a parallel processing of Monte Carlo calculation, respectively. An important references are attached at the end of this report.

Completely boundary-free minimum and maximum principles for neutron transport and their least-squares and Galerkin equivalents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackroyd, R.T.

1982-01-01

Some minimum and maximum variational principles for even-parity neutron transport are reviewed and the corresponding principles for odd-parity transport are derived by a simple method to show why the essential boundary conditions associated with these maximum principles have to be imposed. The method also shows why both the essential and some of the natural boundary conditions associated with these minimum principles have to be imposed. These imposed boundary conditions for trial functions in the variational principles limit the choice of the finite element used to represent trial functions. The reasons for the boundary conditions imposed on the principles for even- and odd-parity transport point the way to a treatment of composite neutron transport, for which completely boundary-free maximum and minimum principles are derived from a functional identity. In general a trial function is used for each parity in the composite neutron transport, but this can be reduced to one without any boundary conditions having to be imposed. (author)

Computational Modeling of a Time-Independent, Heterogeneous Reactor Core Using Simplified Discrete Ordinates Neutron Transport Techniques

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Labowski, Kristofer

2001-01-01

The Linear Characteristic (LC) method on rectangular boxoid meshes is a discrete ordinate neutron transport technique that uses both zeroth and first moments of the angular neutron flux to construct a relatively accurate...

Neutron scattering from 12C in the few-MeV region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, A.; Holt, R.; Whalen, J.

1978-09-01

Neutron total cross sections of natural carbon are deduced from the observed transmission of approximately monoenergetic neutrons through carbon samples of varying thickness. The measurements extend from approximately equal to 0.1 to 4.5 MeV with resolutions of approximately equal to 2 to 100 keV. Neutron differential-elastic-scattering cross sections of natural carbon are measured from 1.5 to 4.0 MeV at incident-neutron energy intervals of approximately less than 100 keV, over an angular range of approximately equal to 20 to 160 0 and with energy resolutions of 20 to 50 keV. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of a multilevel R-function analysis. Results are compared with the large body of measured and evaluated neutron total and scattering cross sections and scattered neutron polarizations reported in the literature. It is suggested that the observed neutron total and scattering cross sections of carbon are physically consistent and suitable for use as a reference standard in experimental studies of neutron processes. The R-function description should provide a convenient description of neutron total and scattering cross sections of carbon as a function of both angle and energy. 88 references

Spatially adaptive hp refinement approach for PN neutron transport equation using spectral element method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nahavandi, N.; Minuchehr, A.; Zolfaghari, A.; Abbasi, M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Powerful hp-SEM refinement approach for P N neutron transport equation has been presented. • The method provides great geometrical flexibility and lower computational cost. • There is a capability of using arbitrary high order and non uniform meshes. • Both posteriori and priori local error estimation approaches have been employed. • High accurate results are compared against other common adaptive and uniform grids. - Abstract: In this work we presented the adaptive hp-SEM approach which is obtained from the incorporation of Spectral Element Method (SEM) and adaptive hp refinement. The SEM nodal discretization and hp adaptive grid-refinement for even-parity Boltzmann neutron transport equation creates powerful grid refinement approach with high accuracy solutions. In this regard a computer code has been developed to solve multi-group neutron transport equation in one-dimensional geometry using even-parity transport theory. The spatial dependence of flux has been developed via SEM method with Lobatto orthogonal polynomial. Two commonly error estimation approaches, the posteriori and the priori has been implemented. The incorporation of SEM nodal discretization method and adaptive hp grid refinement leads to high accurate solutions. Coarser meshes efficiency and significant reduction of computer program runtime in comparison with other common refining methods and uniform meshing approaches is tested along several well-known transport benchmarks

Evaluation of energy responses for neutron dose-equivalent meters made in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saegusa, J.; Yoshizawa, M.; Tanimura, Y.; Yoshida, M.; Yamano, T.; Nakaoka, H.

2004-01-01

Energy responses of three types of Japanese neutron dose-equivalent (DE) meters were evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations and measurements. The energy responses were evaluated for thermal neutrons, monoenergetic neutrons with energies up to 15.2 MeV, and also for neutrons from such radionuclide sources as 252 Cf and 241 Am-Be. The calculated results were corroborated with the measured ones. The angular dependence of the response and the DE response were also evaluated. As a result, reliable energy responses were obtained by careful simulations of the proportional counter, moderator and absorber of the DE meters. Furthermore, the relationship between pressure of counting gas and response of the DE meter was discussed. By using the obtained responses, relations between predicted readings of the DE meters and true DE values were studied for various workplace spectra

Calculation of neutron and gamma transport at the FOA:type of problems and calculation methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefvert, T.

1975-11-01

Protection against the effects of nuclear warfare involves the analysis of the forms of results of a nuclear charge explosion producing neutron and gamma radiation. It brings out problems leading to the calculation of criticality, leakage, and deep transmission. Methods have been developed for various kinds of particle transport problems. Applications to radiation therapy, storage of fissile materials, and fast reactors are discussed. A list (with brief description) of all neutron and gamma transport programmes of the FOA is given. (J.S.)

Anisotropic kernel p(μ → μ') for transport calculations of elastically scattered neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stevenson, B.

1985-01-01

Literature in the area of anisotropic neutron scattering is by no means lacking. Attention, however, is usually devoted to solution of some particular neutron transport problem and the model employed is at best approximate. The present approach to the problem in general is classically exact and may be of some particular value to individuals seeking exact numerical results in transport calculations. For attempts neutrons originally directed toward the unit vector Omega, it attempts the evaluation of p(theta'), defined such that p(theta') d theta' is that fraction of scattered neutrons that emerges in the vicinity of a cone i.e., having been scattered to between angles theta' and theta' + d theta' with the axis of preferred orientation i; Omega makes an angle theta with i. The relative simplicity of the final form of the solution for hydrogen, in spite of the complicated nature of the limits involved, is a trade-off that truly is not necessary. The exact general solution presented here in integral form, has exceedingly simple limits, i.e., 0 ≤ theta' ≤ π regardless of the material involved; but the form of the final solution is extraordinarily complicated

Development of a CAD-based neutron transport code with the method of characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Zhenping; Wang Dianxi; He Tao; Wang Guozhong; Zheng Huaqing

2012-01-01

The main problem determining whether the method of characteristics (MOC) can be used in complicated and highly heterogeneous geometry is how to combine an effective geometry processing method with MOC. In this study, a new idea making use of MCAM, which is a Mutlti-Calculation Automatic Modeling for Neutronics and Radiation Transport program developed by FDS Team, for geometry description and ray tracing of particle transport was brought forward to solve the geometry problem mentioned above. Based on the theory and approach as the foregoing statement, a two dimensional neutron transport code was developed which had been integrated into VisualBUS, developed by FDS Team. Several benchmarks were used to verify the validity of the code and the numerical results were coincident with the reference values very well, which indicated the accuracy and feasibility of the method and the MOC code. (authors)

Neutron spectrometry using artificial neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vega-Carrillo, Hector Rene; Martin Hernandez-Davila, Victor; Manzanares-Acuna, Eduardo; Mercado Sanchez, Gema A.; Pilar Iniguez de la Torre, Maria; Barquero, Raquel; Palacios, Francisco; Mendez Villafane, Roberto; Arteaga Arteaga, Tarcicio; Manuel Ortiz Rodriguez, Jose

2006-01-01

An artificial neural network has been designed to obtain neutron spectra from Bonner spheres spectrometer count rates. The neural network was trained using 129 neutron spectra. These include spectra from isotopic neutron sources; reference and operational spectra from accelerators and nuclear reactors, spectra based on mathematical functions as well as few energy groups and monoenergetic spectra. The spectra were transformed from lethargy to energy distribution and were re-binned to 31 energy groups using the MCNP 4C code. The re-binned spectra and the UTA4 response matrix were used to calculate the expected count rates in Bonner spheres spectrometer. These count rates were used as input and their respective spectra were used as output during the neural network training. After training, the network was tested with the Bonner spheres count rates produced by folding a set of neutron spectra with the response matrix. This set contains data used during network training as well as data not used. Training and testing was carried out using the Matlab ( R) program. To verify the network unfolding performance, the original and unfolded spectra were compared using the root mean square error. The use of artificial neural networks to unfold neutron spectra in neutron spectrometry is an alternative procedure that overcomes the drawbacks associated with this ill-conditioned problem

Computational complexity in multidimensional neutron transport theory calculations. Progress report, September 1976--November 30, 1977

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bareiss, E.H.

1977-08-01

The objectives of this research are to develop mathematically and computationally founded criteria for the design of highly efficient and reliable multidimensional neutron transport codes to solve a variety of neutron migration and radiation problems, and to analyze existing and new methods for performance

Analysis of the neutrons dispersion in a semi-infinite medium based in transport theory and the Monte Carlo method; Analisis de la dispersion de neutrones en un medio semi-infinito en base a teoria de transporte y el metodo de Monte Carlo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arreola V, G. [IPN, Escuela Superior de Fisica y Matematicas, Posgrado en Ciencias Fisicomatematicas, area en Ingenieria Nuclear, Unidad Profesional Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Edificio 9, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, 07730 Mexico D. F. (Mexico); Vazquez R, R.; Guzman A, J. R., E-mail: energia.arreola.uam@gmail.com [Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa, Area de Ingenieria en Recursos Energeticos, Av. San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, 09340 Mexico D. F. (Mexico)

2012-10-15

In this work a comparative analysis of the results for the neutrons dispersion in a not multiplicative semi-infinite medium is presented. One of the frontiers of this medium is located in the origin of coordinates, where a neutrons source in beam form, i.e., {mu}{omicron}=1 is also. The neutrons dispersion is studied on the statistical method of Monte Carlo and through the unidimensional transport theory and for an energy group. The application of transport theory gives a semi-analytic solution for this problem while the statistical solution for the flow was obtained applying the MCNPX code. The dispersion in light water and heavy water was studied. A first remarkable result is that both methods locate the maximum of the neutrons distribution to less than two mean free trajectories of transport for heavy water, while for the light water is less than ten mean free trajectories of transport; the differences between both methods is major for the light water case. A second remarkable result is that the tendency of both distributions is similar in small mean free trajectories, while in big mean free trajectories the transport theory spreads to an asymptote value and the solution in base statistical method spreads to zero. The existence of a neutron current of low energy and toward the source is demonstrated, in contrary sense to the neutron current of high energy coming from the own source. (Author)

Multi-group transport methods for high-resolution neutron activation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burns, K. A.; Smith, L. E.; Gesh, C. J.; Shaver, M. W.

2009-01-01

The accurate and efficient simulation of coupled neutron-photon problems is necessary for several important radiation detection applications. Examples include the detection of nuclear threats concealed in cargo containers and prompt gamma neutron activation analysis for nondestructive determination of elemental composition of unknown samples. In these applications, high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometers are used to preserve as much information as possible about the emitted photon flux, which consists of both continuum and characteristic gamma rays with discrete energies. Monte Carlo transport is the most commonly used modeling tool for this type of problem, but computational times for many problems can be prohibitive. This work explores the use of multi-group deterministic methods for the simulation of neutron activation problems. Central to this work is the development of a method for generating multi-group neutron-photon cross-sections in a way that separates the discrete and continuum photon emissions so that the key signatures in neutron activation analysis (i.e., the characteristic line energies) are preserved. The mechanics of the cross-section preparation method are described and contrasted with standard neutron-gamma cross-section sets. These custom cross-sections are then applied to several benchmark problems. Multi-group results for neutron and photon flux are compared to MCNP results. Finally, calculated responses of high-resolution spectrometers are compared. Preliminary findings show promising results when compared to MCNP. A detailed discussion of the potential benefits and shortcomings of the multi-group-based approach, in terms of accuracy, and computational efficiency, is provided. (authors)

Project of new tandem-driven neutron facility in Slovakia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strisovska, Jana

2014-01-01

New neutron laboratory based on Pelletron R Accelerator with terminal voltage of 2 MV is under construction at the Institute of Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia. The accelerator will be employed as a tunable source of monoenergetic fast neutrons. Using of deuterium and in the future also tritium gas cells is foreseen. These cells will allow to produce fast neutrons with various energies via 2 H(d,n) 3 He and 3 H(p,n) 3 He nuclear reactions. Physics program of new laboratory will be focused on nuclear structure studied via inelastic neutron scattering with gamma ray detection, especially for light singly-closed shell nuclei. Fission cross section measurement and fission gamma rays studies will be performed. Development and testing of neutron detectors, as integral part of future project ALLEGRO, i.e., the demonstrator of fast nuclear reactor cooled with helium gas, is planned. Parallel to neutron program, beams of charged particles will be used for studies of resonant nuclear astrophysics reactions. Start of operation of the laboratory is foreseen in 2015. In the talk, current status, physics program and details of the facility will be presented. (authors)

Neutron Scattering Differential Cross Sections for 12C

Science.gov (United States)

Byrd, Stephen T.; Hicks, S. F.; Nickel, M. T.; Block, S. G.; Peters, E. E.; Ramirez, A. P. D.; Mukhopadhyay, S.; McEllistrem, M. T.; Yates, S. W.; Vanhoy, J. R.

2016-09-01

Because of the prevalence of its use in the nuclear energy industry and for our overall understanding of the interactions of neutrons with matter, accurately determining the effects of fast neutrons scattering from 12C is important. Previously measured 12C inelastic neutron scattering differential cross sections found in the National Nuclear Data Center (NNDC) show significant discrepancies (>30%). Seeking to resolve these discrepancies, neutron inelastic and elastic scattering differential cross sections for 12C were measured at the University of Kentucky Acceleratory Laboratory for incident neutron energies of 5.58, 5.83, and 6.04 MeV. Quasi mono-energetic neutrons were scattered off an enriched 12C target (>99.99%) and detected by a C6D6 liquid scintillation detector. Time-of-flight (TOF) techniques were used to determine scattered neutron energies and allowed for elastic/inelastic scattering distinction. Relative detector efficiencies were determined through direct measurements of neutrons produced by the 2H(d,n) and 3H(p,n) source reactions, and absolute normalization factors were found by comparing 1H scattering measurements to accepted NNDC values. This experimental procedure has been successfully used for prior neutron scattering measurements and seems well-suited to our current objective. Significant challenges were encountered, however, with measuring the neutron detector efficiency over the broad incident neutron energy range required for these measurements. Funding for this research was provided by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

Neutron scattering and muon spin rotation as probes of light interstitial transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, D.W.

1985-01-01

The transport of light interstitials, specifically of hydrogen isotopes and the positive muon, is studied with the help of microscopic transport models. The principal observables are the differential neutron scattering cross section of the hydrogen isotopes and the muon spin rotation signal of the positive muon. The transport feature of primary interest is coherence arising as a result of persistence of quantum mechanical phase memory. Evaluation of observables is based on the generalized master equation, or alternatively, the stochastic Liouville equation. The latter is applied to obtain the neutron scattering lineshapes for local tunneling systems as well as for extended Bravais and non-Bravais lattices. It is found that the usual form of the stochastic Liouville equation does not address adequately transport among non-degenerate site-states. An appropriate modification is suggested and employed to obtain scattering lineshapes applicable to recent experiments on impurity-trapped hydrogen. The muon spin rotation signal is formulated under the assumption that spin interactions constitute a negligible source of scattering for muon transport. The depolarization function is evaluated for the cases of local tunneling systems and simple models of spatially extended transport. The former addresses consequences of coherence and both address the consequences of the spatial extent of the muon wavefunction. It is found that the depolarization function is sensitive to the wave function extent, and the detail attributable to it is characterized

Theoretical analysis of integral neutron transport equation using collision probability method with quadratic flux approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafii, Mohammad Ali; Meidianti, Rahma; Wildian,; Fitriyani, Dian; Tongkukut, Seni H. J.; Arkundato, Artoto

2014-01-01

Theoretical analysis of integral neutron transport equation using collision probability (CP) method with quadratic flux approach has been carried out. In general, the solution of the neutron transport using the CP method is performed with the flat flux approach. In this research, the CP method is implemented in the cylindrical nuclear fuel cell with the spatial of mesh being conducted into non flat flux approach. It means that the neutron flux at any point in the nuclear fuel cell are considered different each other followed the distribution pattern of quadratic flux. The result is presented here in the form of quadratic flux that is better understanding of the real condition in the cell calculation and as a starting point to be applied in computational calculation

Theoretical analysis of integral neutron transport equation using collision probability method with quadratic flux approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shafii, Mohammad Ali, E-mail: mashafii@fmipa.unand.ac.id; Meidianti, Rahma, E-mail: mashafii@fmipa.unand.ac.id; Wildian,, E-mail: mashafii@fmipa.unand.ac.id; Fitriyani, Dian, E-mail: mashafii@fmipa.unand.ac.id [Department of Physics, Andalas University Padang West Sumatera Indonesia (Indonesia); Tongkukut, Seni H. J. [Department of Physics, Sam Ratulangi University Manado North Sulawesi Indonesia (Indonesia); Arkundato, Artoto [Department of Physics, Jember University Jember East Java Indonesia (Indonesia)

2014-09-30

Theoretical analysis of integral neutron transport equation using collision probability (CP) method with quadratic flux approach has been carried out. In general, the solution of the neutron transport using the CP method is performed with the flat flux approach. In this research, the CP method is implemented in the cylindrical nuclear fuel cell with the spatial of mesh being conducted into non flat flux approach. It means that the neutron flux at any point in the nuclear fuel cell are considered different each other followed the distribution pattern of quadratic flux. The result is presented here in the form of quadratic flux that is better understanding of the real condition in the cell calculation and as a starting point to be applied in computational calculation.

The neutron transport code DTF-TRACA. User's manual and input data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anhert, C.

1979-01-01

A user's manual of the neutron transport code DTF-TRACA, which is a version of the original DTF-IV with some modifications made at JEN. A detailed input data description is given. The new options developped at JEN are included too. (author)

Neutron dosimetry using electrochemical etching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su, S.J.; Stillwagon, G.B.; Morgan, K.Z.

1977-01-01

Registration of α-tracks and fast-neutron-induced recoils tracks by the electrochemical etching technique as applied to sensitive polymer foils (e.g., polycarbonate) provides a simple, sensitive and inexpensive means of fast neutron personnel dosimetry as well as a valuable research tool for microdosimetry. When tracks were amplified by our electrochemical technique and the etching results compared with conventional etching technique a striking difference was noted. The electrochemically etched tracks were of much larger diameter (approx. 100 μm) and gave superior contrast. Two optical devices--the transparency projector and microfiche reader--were adapted to facilitate counting of the tracks appearing on our polycarbonate foils. The projector produced a magnification of 14X for a screen to projector distance of 5.0 meter and read's magnification was 50X. A Poisson distribution was determined for the number of tracks located in a particular area of the foil and experimentally verified by random counting of quarter sections of the microfiche reader screen. Finally, in an effort to determine dose equivalent (rem), a conversion factor is being determined by finding the sensitivity response (tracks/neutron) of recoil particle induced tracks as a function of monoenergetic fast neutrons and comparing results with those obtained by others

Reevaluation of the case, de Hoffman, and Placzek one-group neutron transport benchmark solution in plane geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapol, B.D.

1986-01-01

In a course on neutron transport theory and also in the analytical neutron transport theory literature, the pioneering work of Case et al. (CdHP) is often referenced. This work was truly a monumental effort in that it treated the fundamental mathematical properties of the one-group neutron Boltzmann equation in detail as well as the numerical evaluation of most of the resulting solutions. Many mathematically and numerically oriented dissertations were based on this classic monograph. In light of the considerable advances made both in numerical methods and computer technology since 1953, when the historic CdHP monograph first appeared, it seems appropriate to reevaluate the numerical benchmark solutions found therein with present-day computational technology. In most transport theory courses, the subject of proper benchmarking of numerical algorithms and transport codes is seldom addressed at any great length. This may be the reason that the benchmarking procedure is so rarely practiced in the nuclear community and when practiced is improperly applied. In this presentation, the development of a new benchmark for the one-group neutron flux in an infinite medium will be detailed with emphasis placed on the educational aspects of the benchmarking activity

Comparison of 2D and 3D Neutron Transport Analyses on Yonggwang Unit 3 Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maeng, Aoung Jae; Kim, Byoung Chul; Lim, Mi Joung; Kim, Kyung Sik; Jeon, Young Kyou; Yoo, Choon Sung

2012-01-01

10 CFR Part 50 Appendix H requires periodical surveillance program in the reactor vessel (RV) belt line region of light water nuclear power plant to check vessel integrity resulting from the exposure to neutron irradiation and thermal environment. Exact exposure analysis of the neutron fluence based on right modeling and simulations is the most important in the evaluation. Traditional 2 dimensional (D) and 1D synthesis methodologies have been widely applied to evaluate the fast neutron (E > 1.0 MeV) fluence exposure to RV. However, 2D and 1D methodologies have not provided accurate fast neutron fluence evaluation at elevations far above or below the active core region. RAPTOR-M3G (RApid Parallel Transport Of Radiation - Multiple 3D Geometries) program for 3D geometries calculation was therefore developed both by Westinghouse Electronic Company, USA and Korea Reactor Integrity Surveillance Technology (KRIST) for the analysis of In-Vessel Surveillance Test and Ex-Vessel Neutron Dosimetry (EVND). Especially EVND which is installed at active core height between biological shielding material and concrete also evaluates axial neutron fluence by placing three dosimetries each at Top, Middle and Bottom part of the angle representing maximum neutron fluence. The EVND programs have been applied to the Korea Nuclear Plants. The objective of this study is therefore to compare the 3D and the 2D Neutron Transport Calculations and Analyses on the Yonggwang unit 3 Reactor as an example

Optimization of a neutron detector design using adjoint transport simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, C.; Manalo, K.; Huang, M.; Chin, M.; Edgar, C.; Applegate, S.; Sjoden, G.

2012-01-01

A synthetic aperture approach has been developed and investigated for Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) detection in vehicles passing a checkpoint at highway speeds. SNM is postulated to be stored in a moving vehicle and detector assemblies are placed on the road-side or in chambers embedded below the road surface. Neutron and gamma spectral awareness is important for the detector assembly design besides high efficiencies, so that different SNMs can be detected and identified with various possible shielding settings. The detector assembly design is composed of a CsI gamma-ray detector block and five neutron detector blocks, with peak efficiencies targeting different energy ranges determined by adjoint simulations. In this study, formulations are derived using adjoint transport simulations to estimate detector efficiencies. The formulations is applied to investigate several neutron detector designs for Block IV, which has its peak efficiency in the thermal range, and Block V, designed to maximize the total neutron counts over the entire energy spectrum. Other Blocks detect different neutron energies. All five neutron detector blocks and the gamma-ray block are assembled in both MCNP and deterministic simulation models, with detector responses calculated to validate the fully assembled design using a 30-group library. The simulation results show that the 30-group library, collapsed from an 80-group library using an adjoint-weighting approach with the YGROUP code, significantly reduced the computational cost while maintaining accuracy. (authors)

Analysis of the neutrons dispersion in a semi-infinite medium based in transport theory and the Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arreola V, G.; Vazquez R, R.; Guzman A, J. R.

2012-10-01

In this work a comparative analysis of the results for the neutrons dispersion in a not multiplicative semi-infinite medium is presented. One of the frontiers of this medium is located in the origin of coordinates, where a neutrons source in beam form, i.e., μο=1 is also. The neutrons dispersion is studied on the statistical method of Monte Carlo and through the unidimensional transport theory and for an energy group. The application of transport theory gives a semi-analytic solution for this problem while the statistical solution for the flow was obtained applying the MCNPX code. The dispersion in light water and heavy water was studied. A first remarkable result is that both methods locate the maximum of the neutrons distribution to less than two mean free trajectories of transport for heavy water, while for the light water is less than ten mean free trajectories of transport; the differences between both methods is major for the light water case. A second remarkable result is that the tendency of both distributions is similar in small mean free trajectories, while in big mean free trajectories the transport theory spreads to an asymptote value and the solution in base statistical method spreads to zero. The existence of a neutron current of low energy and toward the source is demonstrated, in contrary sense to the neutron current of high energy coming from the own source. (Author)

Measurement of neutron production by 500 MeV proton beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirayama, Hideo; Ban, Shuichi

1981-01-01

Measurement of high energy neutrons is difficult, because the cross section data are scarce, the cross section at high energy is usually small, and the monoenergetic neutrons are hardly obtained. At the National Laboratory for High Energy Physics (KEK), various threshold detectors have been used for high energy neutron measurement. A carbon detector is a standard detector for high energy neutrons, since the cross section of the C 12 (n, 2n) C 11 reaction is almost constant at higher energy than 20 MeV, and the data have been well known. The half-life of the product (C 11 ) is about 20 min, and other activities with longer half-life than 1 min are restricted to Be 7 and C 11 . As a carbon detector, a plastic scintillator is used, and the neutron spectra observed at the Booster Beam Dump Room of KEK are presented. The results of measurements were compared with the calculated results using a Monte Carlo code made at KEK. Agreement between both results was good. (Kato, T.)

Comparison of preconditioned generalized conjugate gradient methods to two-dimensional neutron and photon transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, G.S.

1997-01-01

We apply and compare the preconditioned generalized conjugate gradient methods to solve the linear system equation that arises in the two-dimensional neutron and photon transport equation in this paper. Several subroutines are developed on the basis of preconditioned generalized conjugate gradient methods for time-independent, two-dimensional neutron and photon transport equation in the transport theory. These generalized conjugate gradient methods are used. TFQMR (transpose free quasi-minimal residual algorithm), CGS (conjuage gradient square algorithm), Bi-CGSTAB (bi-conjugate gradient stabilized algorithm) and QMRCGSTAB (quasi-minimal residual variant of bi-conjugate gradient stabilized algorithm). These sub-routines are connected to computer program DORT. Several problems are tested on a personal computer with Intel Pentium CPU. (author)

Ionizing Energy Depositions After Fast Neutron Interactions in Silicon

CERN Document Server

Bergmann, Benedikt; Caicedo, Ivan; Kierstead, James; Takai, Helio; Frojdh, Erik

2016-01-01

In this study we present the ionizing energy depositions in a 300 μm thick silicon layer after fast neutron impact. With the Time-of-Flight (ToF) technique, the ionizing energy deposition spectra of recoil silicons and secondary charged particles were assigned to (quasi-)monoenergetic neutron energies in the range from 180 keV to hundreds of MeV. We show and interpret representative measured energy spectra. By separating the ionizing energy losses of the recoil silicon from energy depositions by products of nuclear reactions, the competition of ionizing (IEL) and non-ionizing energy losses (NIEL) of a recoil silicon within the silicon lattice was investigated. The data give supplementary information to the results of a previous measurement and are compared with different theoretical predictions.

ZZ AIRFEWG, Gamma, Neutron Transport Calculation in Air Using FEWG1 Cross-Section

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: Format: ANISN; Number of groups: 37 neutron / 21 gamma-ray; Nuclides: air (79% N and 21% O); Origin: DLC-0031/FEWG1 cross sections (ENDF/B-IV). Weighting spectrum: 1/E. The AIRFEWG library has been generated by an ANISN multigroup calculation of gamma-ray, neutron, and secondary gamma-ray transport in infinite homogeneous air using DLC-0031/FEWG1 cross sections. 2 - Method of solution: The results were generated with a P3, ANISN run with a source in a single energy group. Thus, 58 such runs were required. For sources in the 37 neutron groups, both neutron and secondary gamma-ray fluence results were calculated. For gamma-ray sources only gamma-ray fluences were calculated

Mathematical models for volume rendering and neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Max, N.

1994-09-01

This paper reviews several different models for light interaction with volume densities of absorbing, glowing, reflecting, or scattering material. They include absorption only, glow only, glow and absorption combined, single scattering of external illumination, and multiple scattering. The models are derived from differential equations, and illustrated on a data set representing a cloud. They are related to corresponding models in neutron transport. The multiple scattering model uses an efficient method to propagate the radiation which does not suffer from the ray effect

Image quality characteristics for virtual monoenergetic images using dual-layer spectral detector CT: Comparison with conventional tube-voltage images.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakabe, Daisuke; Funama, Yoshinori; Taguchi, Katsuyuki; Nakaura, Takeshi; Utsunomiya, Daisuke; Oda, Seitaro; Kidoh, Masafumi; Nagayama, Yasunori; Yamashita, Yasuyuki

2018-05-01

To investigate the image quality characteristics for virtual monoenergetic images compared with conventional tube-voltage image with dual-layer spectral CT (DLCT). Helical scans were performed using a first-generation DLCT scanner, two different sizes of acrylic cylindrical phantoms, and a Catphan phantom. Three different iodine concentrations were inserted into the phantom center. The single-tube voltage for obtaining virtual monoenergetic images was set to 120 or 140 kVp. Conventional 120- and 140-kVp images and virtual monoenergetic images (40-200-keV images) were reconstructed from slice thicknesses of 1.0 mm. The CT number and image noise were measured for each iodine concentration and water on the 120-kVp images and virtual monoenergetic images. The noise power spectrum (NPS) was also calculated. The iodine CT numbers for the iodinated enhancing materials were similar regardless of phantom size and acquisition method. Compared with the iodine CT numbers of the conventional 120-kVp images, those for the monoenergetic 40-, 50-, and 60-keV images increased by approximately 3.0-, 1.9-, and 1.3-fold, respectively. The image noise values for each virtual monoenergetic image were similar (for example, 24.6 HU at 40 keV and 23.3 HU at 200 keV obtained at 120 kVp and 30-cm phantom size). The NPS curves of the 70-keV and 120-kVp images for a 1.0-mm slice thickness over the entire frequency range were similar. Virtual monoenergetic images represent stable image noise over the entire energy spectrum and improved the contrast-to-noise ratio than conventional tube voltage using the dual-layer spectral detector CT. Copyright © 2018 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

VENTURE: a code block for solving multigroup neutronics problems applying the finite-difference diffusion-theory approximation to neutron transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vondy, D.R.; Fowler, T.B.; Cunningham, G.W.

1975-10-01

The computer code block VENTURE, designed to solve multigroup neutronics problems with application of the finite-difference diffusion-theory approximation to neutron transport (or alternatively simple P 1 ) in up to three-dimensional geometry is described. A variety of types of problems may be solved: the usual eigenvalue problem, a direct criticality search on the buckling, on a reciprocal velocity absorber (prompt mode), or on nuclide concentrations, or an indirect criticality search on nuclide concentrations, or on dimensions. First-order perturbation analysis capability is available at the macroscopic cross section level

The neutron transport code DTF-Traca users manual and input data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahnert, C

1979-07-01

This is a users manual of the neutron transport code DTF-TRACA, which is a version of the original DTF-IV with some modifications made at JEN. A detailed input data descriptions is given. The new options developed at JEN are included too. (Author) 18 refs.

The neutron transport code DTF-Traca users manual and input data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahnert, C.

1979-01-01

This is a users manual of the neutron transport code DTF-TRACA, which is a version of the original DTF-IV with some modifications made at JEN. A detailed input data descriptions is given. The new options developed at JEN are included too. (Author) 18 refs

Method for calculating anisotropic neutron transport using scattering kernel without polynomial expansion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Akito; Yamamoto, Junji; Ebisuya, Mituo; Sumita, Kenji

1979-01-01

A new method for calculating the anisotropic neutron transport is proposed for the angular spectral analysis of D-T fusion reactor neutronics. The method is based on the transport equation with new type of anisotropic scattering kernels formulated by a single function I sub(i) (μ', μ) instead of polynomial expansion, for instance, Legendre polynomials. In the calculation of angular flux spectra by using scattering kernels with the Legendre polynomial expansion, we often observe the oscillation with negative flux. But in principle this oscillation disappears by this new method. In this work, we discussed anisotropic scattering kernels of the elastic scattering and the inelastic scatterings which excite discrete energy levels. The other scatterings were included in isotropic scattering kernels. An approximation method, with use of the first collision source written by the I sub(i) (μ', μ) function, was introduced to attenuate the ''oscillations'' when we are obliged to use the scattering kernels with the Legendre polynomial expansion. Calculated results with this approximation showed remarkable improvement for the analysis of the angular flux spectra in a slab system of lithium metal with the D-T neutron source. (author)

Neutron spectrometry with a monolithic silicon telescope.

Science.gov (United States)

Agosteo, S; D'Angelo, G; Fazzi, A; Para, A Foglio; Pola, A; Zotto, P

2007-01-01

A neutron spectrometer was set-up by coupling a polyethylene converter with a monolithic silicon telescope, consisting of a DeltaE and an E stage-detector (about 2 and 500 microm thick, respectively). The detection system was irradiated with monoenergetic neutrons at INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (Legnaro, Italy). The maximum detectable energy, imposed by the thickness of the E stage, is about 8 MeV for the present detector. The scatter plots of the energy deposited in the two stages were acquired using two independent electronic chains. The distributions of the recoil-protons are well-discriminated from those due to secondary electrons for energies above 0.350 MeV. The experimental spectra of the recoil-protons were compared with the results of Monte Carlo simulations using the FLUKA code. An analytical model that takes into account the geometrical structure of the silicon telescope was developed, validated and implemented in an unfolding code. The capability of reproducing continuous neutron spectra was investigated by irradiating the detector with neutrons from a thick beryllium target bombarded with protons. The measured spectra were compared with data taken from the literature. Satisfactory agreement was found.

Target shape effects on monoenergetic GeV proton acceleration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen Min; Yu Tongpu; Pukhov, Alexander [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik I, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf, 40225 Duesseldorf (Germany); Sheng Zhengming, E-mail: pukhov@tp1.uni-duesseldorf.d [Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China)

2010-04-15

When a circularly polarized laser pulse interacts with a foil target, there are three stages: pre-hole-boring, hole-boring and light sail acceleration. We study the electron and ion dynamics in the first stage and find the minimum foil thickness requirement for a given laser intensity. Based on this analysis, we propose using a shaped foil for ion acceleration, whose thickness varies transversely to match the laser intensity. Then, the target evolves into three regions: the acceleration, transparency and deformation regions. In the acceleration region, the target can be uniformly accelerated producing a mono-energetic and spatially collimated ion beam. Detailed numerical simulations are performed to check the feasibility and robustness of this scheme, such as the influence of shape factors and surface roughness. A GeV mono-energetic proton beam is observed in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations when a laser pulse with a focus intensity of 10{sup 22} W cm{sup -2} is used. The energy conversion efficiency of the laser pulse to the accelerated proton beam with the simulation parameters is more than 23%.

Target shape effects on monoenergetic GeV proton acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Min; Yu Tongpu; Pukhov, Alexander; Sheng Zhengming

2010-01-01

When a circularly polarized laser pulse interacts with a foil target, there are three stages: pre-hole-boring, hole-boring and light sail acceleration. We study the electron and ion dynamics in the first stage and find the minimum foil thickness requirement for a given laser intensity. Based on this analysis, we propose using a shaped foil for ion acceleration, whose thickness varies transversely to match the laser intensity. Then, the target evolves into three regions: the acceleration, transparency and deformation regions. In the acceleration region, the target can be uniformly accelerated producing a mono-energetic and spatially collimated ion beam. Detailed numerical simulations are performed to check the feasibility and robustness of this scheme, such as the influence of shape factors and surface roughness. A GeV mono-energetic proton beam is observed in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations when a laser pulse with a focus intensity of 10 22 W cm -2 is used. The energy conversion efficiency of the laser pulse to the accelerated proton beam with the simulation parameters is more than 23%.

Reconstruction of neutron spectra through neural networks; Reconstruccion de espectros de neutrones mediante redes neuronales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vega C, H.R.; Hernandez D, V.M.; Manzanares A, E. [Cuerpo Academico de Radiobiologia, Estudios Nucleares, Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, A.P. 336, 98000 Zacatecas (Mexico)] e-mail: rvega@cantera.reduaz.mx [and others

2003-07-01

A neural network has been used to reconstruct the neutron spectra starting from the counting rates of the detectors of the Bonner sphere spectrophotometric system. A group of 56 neutron spectra was selected to calculate the counting rates that would produce in a Bonner sphere system, with these data and the spectra it was trained the neural network. To prove the performance of the net, 12 spectra were used, 6 were taken of the group used for the training, 3 were obtained of mathematical functions and those other 3 correspond to real spectra. When comparing the original spectra of those reconstructed by the net we find that our net has a poor performance when reconstructing monoenergetic spectra, this attributes it to those characteristic of the spectra used for the training of the neural network, however for the other groups of spectra the results of the net are appropriate with the prospective ones. (Author)

Computational complexity in multidimensional neutron transport theory calculations. Progress report, September 1, 1975--August 31, 1976

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bareiss, E.H.

1976-05-01

The objectives of the work are to develop mathematically and computationally founded for the design of highly efficient and reliable multidimensional neutron transport codes to solve a variety of neutron migration and radiation problems, and to analyze existing and new methods for performance. As new analytical insights are gained, new numerical methods are developed and tested. Significant results obtained include implementation of the integer-preserving Gaussian elimination method (two-step method) in a CDC 6400 computer code, modes analysis for one-dimensional transport solutions, and a new method for solving the 1-T transport equation. Some of the work dealt with the interface and corner problem in diffusion theory

Monte Carlo method for neutron transport calculations in graphics processing units (GPUs)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pellegrino, Esteban

2011-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation is well suited for solving the Boltzmann neutron transport equation in an inhomogeneous media for complicated geometries. However, routine applications require the computation time to be reduced to hours and even minutes in a desktop PC. The interest in adopting Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) for Monte Carlo acceleration is rapidly growing. This is due to the massive parallelism provided by the latest GPU technologies which is the most promising solution to the challenge of performing full-size reactor core analysis on a routine basis. In this study, Monte Carlo codes for a fixed-source neutron transport problem were developed for GPU environments in order to evaluate issues associated with computational speedup using GPUs. Results obtained in this work suggest that a speedup of several orders of magnitude is possible using the state-of-the-art GPU technologies. (author) [es

Effect of Fast Neutron Irradiation on Current Transport Properties of HTS Materials

CERN Document Server

Ballarino, A; Kruglov, V S; Latushkin, S T; Lubimov, A N; Ryazanov, A I; Shavkin, S V; Taylor, T M; Volkov, P V

2004-01-01

The effect of fast neutron irradiation with energy up to 35 MeV and integrated fluence of up to 5 x 10**15 cm-2 on the current transport properties of HTS materials Bi-2212 and Bi-2223 has been studied, both at liquid nitrogen and at room temperatures. The samples irradiated were selected after verification of the stability of their superconducting properties after temperature cycling in the range of 77 K - 293 K. It has been found that the irradiation by fast neutrons up to the above dose does not produce a significant degradation of critical current. The effect of room temperature annealing on the recovery of transport properties of the irradiated samples is also reported, as is a preliminary microstructure investigation of the effect of irradiation on the soldered contacts.

A coordinate transform method for one-speed neutron transport in composite slabs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haidar, N.H.S.

1988-01-01

The optical path transformation is applied to reduce the one-speed neutron transport equation for a class of composite subcritical slabs to single-region problems. The class idealises, within the uncertainty of the one-speed model, a variety of practical situations such as U-D 2 O-C-Zr-Pb or Pu-U-Na-Fe symmetric reactor assemblies; which may possibly contain a symmetrically anisotropic neutron source. A closed form double series solution, which turns out to be quite convenient for design and optimisation purposes, has been obtained, in terms of discontinuous functions for the multi-regional angular flux by application of a double finite Legendre transform. Disadvantage factor evaluations for a U-C lattice cell resulting from a low-order P 0 P 1 approximation of this method are found to be in full agreement with hybrid diffusion-transport estimates. (author)

Resolution of the neutron transport equation by a three-dimensional least square method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varin, Elisabeth

2001-01-01

The knowledge of space and time distribution of neutrons with a certain energy or speed allows the exploitation and control of a nuclear reactor and the assessment of the irradiation dose about an irradiated nuclear fuel storage site. The neutron density is described by a transport equation. The objective of this research thesis is to develop a software for the resolution of this stationary equation in a three-dimensional Cartesian domain by means of a deterministic method. After a presentation of the transport equation, the author gives an overview of the different deterministic resolution approaches, identifies their benefits and drawbacks, and discusses the choice of the Ressel method. The least square method is precisely described and then applied. Numerical benchmarks are reported for validation purposes

Patterns of Lethality and Absorbed Dose Distributions in Mice for Monoenergetic Neutrons; Letalite et Distribution de la Dose Absorbee chez la Souris pour des Neutrons Monoenergetiques; Letal'nost' i raspredelenie pogloshchennoj dozy pri obluchenii myshej monoehnergeticheskimi neitronami; Letalidad y Distribucion de las Dosis Absorbidas por el Raton para Neutrones Monoenergeticos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frigerio, N. A.; Jordan, D. L. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL (United States)

1964-03-15

The presence of strong C, N and O resonances in the 100 to 1500 keV region has permitted the study of specific neutron-nuclide interactions as reflected in lethality, RBE maxima etc. Sixty-two {mu}A of resolved Van de Graaf protons, 1882 to 2738 keV, yielded monoenergetic neutrons via Li{sup 7}(p, n)Be{sup 7}. Virgin female CF-1 mice were exposed in celluloid capsules to the mono-energetic neutrons at distances of 3.1 to 11.3 cm from the source at laboratory angles of 0 to 1 radian. Mice were exposed bilaterally while simultaneously in motion through either circular or elliptical orbits normal to the axis of the beam. Thus, control of dose distribution within the animal was possible. Absolute flux measurements were made with U{sup 235} fission counters and by absolute counting of Au wires and foils activated within Cd covers. Patterns of dose absorption were measured with micro-ionization chambers and with a specially developed FeSO{sub 4}-NH{sub 4}SCN dosimeter of high sensitivity. Relative dose measurements were made with Hurst proton-recoil gas counters and B{sup 10} , Li{sup 6} and proton-recoil scintillators. Neutron-energy distributions were measured with specially developed B{sup 10}, He{sup 3} and Li{sup 6} gas and solid-state spectrometers. Gamma contributions were measured with Ne/Ar chamber counters. These measurements showed gamma contribution to be less than 0.8%, and thermal-epithermal less than 0.01%, of the total rad dose. Animals were exposed to median midpoint doses ranging from 180 to 1200 rad at neutron energies from 396 to 658 keV {+-} 50 keV to cover the region of N and O resonances. Levels and patterns of lethality proved to be strong functions of neutron energy and equally strong, but independent, functions of dose distribution. Regardless of dose, energy or distribution, however, all animals surviving five days survived at least 144 days, dying then of the usual long-term effects. This suggests that monoenergetic fast neutrons, free of

Neutron-energy-dependent cell survival and oncogenic transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, R C; Marino, S A; Martin, S G; Komatsu, K; Geard, C R; Brenner, D J; Hall, E J

1999-12-01

Both cell lethality and neoplastic transformation were assessed for C3H10T1/2 cells exposed to neutrons with energies from 0.040 to 13.7 MeV. Monoenergetic neutrons with energies from 0.23 to 13.7 MeV and two neutron energy spectra with average energies of 0.040 and 0.070 MeV were produced with a Van de Graaff accelerator at the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) in the Center for Radiological Research of Columbia University. For determination of relative biological effectiveness (RBE), cells were exposed to 250 kVp X rays. With exposures to 250 kVp X rays, both cell survival and radiation-induced oncogenic transformation were curvilinear. Irradiation of cells with neutrons at all energies resulted in linear responses as a function of dose for both biological endpoints. Results indicate a complex relationship between RBEm and neutron energy. For both survival and transformation, RBEm was greatest for cells exposed to 0.35 MeV neutrons. RBEm was significantly less at energies above or below 0.35 MeV. These results are consistent with microdosimetric expectation. These results are also compatible with current assessments of neutron radiation weighting factors for radiation protection purposes. Based on calculations of dose-averaged LET, 0.35 MeV neutrons have the greatest LET and therefore would be expected to be more biologically effective than neutrons of greater or lesser energies.

Solution and study of nodal neutron transport equation applying the LTS{sub N}-DiagExp method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hauser, Eliete Biasotto; Pazos, Ruben Panta [Pontificia Univ. Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil). Faculdade de Matematica]. E-mail: eliete@pucrs.br; rpp@mat.pucrs.br; Vilhena, Marco Tullio de [Pontificia Univ. Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil). Instituto de Matematica]. E-mail: vilhena@mat.ufrgs.br; Barros, Ricardo Carvalho de [Universidade do Estado, Nova Friburgo, RJ (Brazil). Instituto Politecnico]. E-mail: ricardo@iprj.uerj.br

2003-07-01

In this paper we report advances about the three-dimensional nodal discrete-ordinates approximations of neutron transport equation for Cartesian geometry. We use the combined collocation method of the angular variables and nodal approach for the spatial variables. By nodal approach we mean the iterated transverse integration of the S{sub N} equations. This procedure leads to the set of one-dimensional averages angular fluxes in each spatial variable. The resulting system of equations is solved with the LTS{sub N} method, first applying the Laplace transform to the set of the nodal S{sub N} equations and then obtained the solution by symbolic computation. We include the LTS{sub N} method by diagonalization to solve the nodal neutron transport equation and then we outline the convergence of these nodal-LTS{sub N} approximations with the help of a norm associated to the quadrature formula used to approximate the integral term of the neutron transport equation. (author)

Asymptotic equivalence of neutron diffusion and transport in time-independent reactor systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borysiewicz, M.; Mika, J.; Spiga, G.

1982-01-01

Presented in this paper is the asymptotic analysis of the time-independent neutron transport equation in the second-order variational formulation. The small parameter introduced into the equation is an estimate of the ratio of absorption and leakage to scattering in the system considered. When the ratio tends to zero, the weak solution to the transport problem tends to the weak solution of the diffusion problem, including properly defined boundary conditions. A formula for the diffusion coefficient different from that based on averaging the transport mean-free-path is derived

Stability and accuracy of 3D neutron transport simulations using the 2D/1D method in MPACT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collins, Benjamin; Stimpson, Shane; Kelley, Blake W.; Young, Mitchell T.H.; Kochunas, Brendan; Graham, Aaron; Larsen, Edward W.; Downar, Thomas; Godfrey, Andrew

2016-01-01

A consistent “2D/1D” neutron transport method is derived from the 3D Boltzmann transport equation, to calculate fuel-pin-resolved neutron fluxes for realistic full-core Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) problems. The 2D/1D method employs the Method of Characteristics to discretize the radial variables and a lower order transport solution to discretize the axial variable. This paper describes the theory of the 2D/1D method and its implementation in the MPACT code, which has become the whole-core deterministic neutron transport solver for the Consortium for Advanced Simulations of Light Water Reactors (CASL) core simulator VERA-CS. Several applications have been performed on both leadership-class and industry-class computing clusters. Results are presented for whole-core solutions of the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 and compared to both continuous-energy Monte Carlo results and plant data.

Stability and accuracy of 3D neutron transport simulations using the 2D/1D method in MPACT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Collins, Benjamin, E-mail: collinsbs@ornl.gov [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Rd., Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Stimpson, Shane, E-mail: stimpsonsg@ornl.gov [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Rd., Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Kelley, Blake W., E-mail: kelleybl@umich.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Young, Mitchell T.H., E-mail: youngmit@umich.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Kochunas, Brendan, E-mail: bkochuna@umich.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Graham, Aaron, E-mail: aarograh@umich.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Larsen, Edward W., E-mail: edlarsen@umich.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Downar, Thomas, E-mail: downar@umich.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Godfrey, Andrew, E-mail: godfreyat@ornl.gov [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Rd., Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States)

2016-12-01

A consistent “2D/1D” neutron transport method is derived from the 3D Boltzmann transport equation, to calculate fuel-pin-resolved neutron fluxes for realistic full-core Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) problems. The 2D/1D method employs the Method of Characteristics to discretize the radial variables and a lower order transport solution to discretize the axial variable. This paper describes the theory of the 2D/1D method and its implementation in the MPACT code, which has become the whole-core deterministic neutron transport solver for the Consortium for Advanced Simulations of Light Water Reactors (CASL) core simulator VERA-CS. Several applications have been performed on both leadership-class and industry-class computing clusters. Results are presented for whole-core solutions of the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 and compared to both continuous-energy Monte Carlo results and plant data.

Generation of quasi-monoenergetic protons from a double-species target driven by the radiation pressure of an ultraintense laser pulse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pae, Ki Hong [Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science, Gwangju 61005 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Chul Min, E-mail: chulmin@gist.ac.kr [Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science, Gwangju 61005 (Korea, Republic of); Advanced Photonics Research Institute, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005 (Korea, Republic of); Nam, Chang Hee, E-mail: chnam@gist.ac.kr [Center for Relativistic Laser Science, Institute for Basic Science, Gwangju 61005 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Physics and Photon Science, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-03-15

In laser-driven proton acceleration, generation of quasi-monoenergetic proton beams has been considered a crucial feature of the radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) scheme, but the required difficult physical conditions have hampered its experimental realization. As a method to generate quasi-monoenergetic protons under experimentally viable conditions, we investigated using double-species targets of controlled composition ratio in order to make protons bunched in the phase space in the RPA scheme. From a modified optimum condition and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we showed by varying the ion composition ratio of proton and carbon that quasi-monoenergetic protons could be generated from ultrathin plane targets irradiated with a circularly polarized Gaussian laser pulse. The proposed scheme should facilitate the experimental realization of ultrashort quasi-monoenergetic proton beams for unique applications in high field science.

Automation of angular movement of the arm neutron diffractometer; Automatizacion del movimiento angular del brazo del difractometro de neutrones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aguilar H, F.; Herrera A, E.; Quintana C, G. [ININ, Carretera Mexico-Toluca s/n, 52750 Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico (Mexico); Torres R, C. E.; Reyes V, M., E-mail: fortunato.aguilar@inin.gob.mx [Instituto Tecnologico de Toluca, Av. Tecnologico s/n, Ex-Rancho La Virgen, Metepec, Estado de Mexico (Mexico)

2015-09-15

A technique to determine the crystal structure of some materials is the neutron diffraction. This technique consists on placing the material in question in a monoenergetic neutron beam obtained by neutron diffraction in a monochromator crystal. The neutron energy depends of the diffraction angle. The Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares has a neutron diffractometer and monochromator crystals of pyrolytic graphite. This crystal can be selecting the neutron energy depending on the angle of diffraction in the glass. The radiation source for the neutron diffractometer is the TRIGA Mark III reactor of the Nuclear Center Dr. Nabor Carrillo Flores. During their operation are also obtained besides neutrons, β and γ radiation. The interest is to have thermal neutrons, so fast neutrons and γ rays are removed using appropriate shielding. The average neutron fluxes of the radial port RE2 of neutron diffractometer at power 1 MW are: heat flow 2,466 x 10{sup 8} n cm{sup -2} sec{sup -1} and fast flow 1,239 x 10{sup 8} n cm{sup -2} sec{sup -1}. The neutron detector is housed in a shield mounted on a mechanical linkage with which the diffraction angle is selected, and therefore the energy of the neutrons. The movement of this joint was performed by the equipment operator manually, so that accuracy to select the diffraction angle was not good and the process rather slow. Therefore a mechanical system was designed, automated by means of a motor as an actuator, a system of force transmission and an electronic control in order that the operator will schedule the diffraction angles and allow the count in the neutrons detection system in a simple manner. (Author)

Design Principle of A Small Angle Neutron Scattering Spectrometer. Vol. 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ashry, A [Dept. of Physics, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Cairo (Egypt)

1996-03-01

The design principle of a small angle neutron scattering (SANS) spectrometer is based on producing monochromatic neutron bursts using two phased rotors. The rotors have a number of slots to achieve the highly available intensity of monoenergetic neutrons at the required resolution. The design principle was applied to improve the performance of the pulsed monochromatic double rotor system at ET-RR-1 to operate as SANS spectrometer. It is shown that for rotors having 19 slots each with radius of curvature 96.8 cm, the intensity gain factor is 13. The proposed SANS spectrometer could cover the neutron wavelength range from 2 A{sup {omicron}} up to 6 A{sup {omicron}} through small angles of scattering from 5 x 10{sup -3} rad. to 0.1 rad. i.e, the scattering wavevector transfer between 0.6 A{sup {omicron}-1} and 0.01 A{sup {omicron}-1}. The maximum neutron flux density on the specimen is 5 x 10{sup 5} n cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}. 8 figs.

Post-merger evolution of a neutron star-black hole binary with neutrino transport

Science.gov (United States)

Foucart, Francois; O'Connor, Evan; Roberts, Luke; Duez, Matthew D.; Haas, Roland; Kidder, Lawrence E.; Ott, Christian D.; Pfeiffer, Harald P.; Scheel, Mark A.; Szilagyi, Bela

2015-06-01

We present a first simulation of the post-merger evolution of a black hole-neutron star binary in full general relativity using an energy-integrated general-relativistic truncated moment formalism for neutrino transport. We describe our implementation of the moment formalism and important tests of our code, before studying the formation phase of an accretion disk after a black hole-neutron star merger. We use as initial data an existing general-relativistic simulation of the merger of a neutron star of mass 1.4 M⊙ with a black hole of mass 7 M⊙ and dimensionless spin χBH=0.8 . Comparing with a simpler leakage scheme for the treatment of the neutrinos, we find noticeable differences in the neutron-to-proton ratio in and around the disk, and in the neutrino luminosity. We find that the electron neutrino luminosity is much lower in the transport simulations, and that both the disk and the disk outflows are less neutron rich. The spatial distribution of the neutrinos is significantly affected by relativistic effects, due to large velocities and curvature in the regions of strongest emission. Over the short time scale evolved, we do not observe purely neutrino-driven outflows. However, a small amount of material (3 ×10-4M⊙ ) is ejected in the polar region during the circularization of the disk. Most of that material is ejected early in the formation of the disk, and is fairly neutron rich (electron fraction Ye˜0.15 - 0.25 ). Through r-process nucleosynthesis, that material should produce high-opacity lanthanides in the polar region, and could thus affect the light curve of radioactively powered electromagnetic transients. We also show that by the end of the simulation, while the bulk of the disk remains neutron rich (Ye˜0.15 - 0.2 and decreasing), its outer layers have a higher electron fraction: 10% of the remaining mass has Ye>0.3 . As that material would be the first to be unbound by disk outflows on longer time scales, and as composition evolution is

Quasi-monoenergetic proton acceleration from cryogenic hydrogen microjet by ultrashort ultraintense laser pulses

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, A.; Tibai, Z.; Hebling, J.; Fülöp, J. A.

2018-03-01

Laser-driven proton acceleration from a micron-sized cryogenic hydrogen microjet target is investigated using multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. With few-cycle (20-fs) ultraintense (2-PW) laser pulses, high-energy quasi-monoenergetic proton acceleration is predicted in a new regime. A collisionless shock-wave acceleration mechanism influenced by Weibel instability results in a maximum proton energy as high as 160 MeV and a quasi-monoenergetic peak at 80 MeV for 1022 W/cm2 laser intensity with controlled prepulses. A self-generated strong quasi-static magnetic field is also observed in the plasma, which modifies the spatial distribution of the proton beam.

Description of a neutron field perturbed by a probe using coupled Monte Carlo and discrete ordinates radiation transport calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zazula, J.M.

1984-01-01

This work concerns calculation of a neutron response, caused by a neutron field perturbed by materials surrounding the source or the detector. Solution of a problem is obtained using coupling of the Monte Carlo radiation transport computation for the perturbed region and the discrete ordinates transport computation for the unperturbed system. (author). 62 refs

Response of a neutron monitor area with TLDs pairs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guzman G, K. A.; Borja H, C. G.; Valero L, C.; Hernandez D, V. M.; Vega C, H. R. [Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Unidad Academica de Estudios Nucleares, Calle Cipres No. 10, Fracc. La Penuela, 98068 Zacatecas (Mexico); Gallego, E.; Lorente, A., E-mail: ing_karen_guzman@yahoo.com.mx [Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Departamento de Ingenieria Nuclear, Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, E-28006 Madrid (Spain)

2011-10-15

The response of a passive neutron monitor area has been calculated using the Monte Carlo code MCNP5. The response was the amount of n({sup 6}Li, T){alpha} reactions occurring in a TLD-600 located at the center of a cylindrical polyethylene moderator. Fluence, (n, a) and H*(10) responses were calculated for 47 monoenergetic neutron sources. The H*(10) relative response was compared with responses of commercially available neutron monitors being alike. Due to {sup 6}Li cross section (n, {alpha}) reactions are mainly produced by thermal neutrons, however TLD-600 is sensitive to gamma-rays; to eliminate the signal due to photons monitor area was built to hold 2 pairs of TLD-600 and 2 pairs of TLD-700, thus from the difference between TLD-600 and TLD-700 readouts the net signal due to neutrons is obtained. The monitor area was calibrated at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid using a {sup 241}AmBe neutron source; net TLD readout was compared with the H*(10) measured with a Bert hold Lb-6411. Performance of the neutron monitor area was determined through two independent experiments, in both cases the H*(10) was statistically equal to H*(10) measured with a Bert hold Lb-6411. Neutron monitor area with TLDs pairs can be used in working areas with intense, mixed and pulsed radiation fields. (Author)

Synergism of the method of characteristics and CAD technology for neutron transport calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Z.; Wang, D.; He, T.; Wang, G.; Zheng, H.

2013-01-01

The method of characteristics (MOC) is a very popular methodology in neutron transport calculation and numerical simulation in recent decades for its unique advantages. One of the key problems determining whether the MOC can be applied in complicated and highly heterogeneous geometry is how to combine an effective geometry processing method with MOC. Most of the existing MOC codes describe the geometry by lines and arcs with extensive input data, such as circles, ellipses, regular polygons and combination of them. Thus they have difficulty in geometry modeling, background meshing and ray tracing for complicated geometry domains. In this study, a new idea making use of a CAD solid modeler MCAM which is a CAD/Image-based Automatic Modeling Program for Neutronics and Radiation Transport developed by FDS Team in China was introduced for geometry modeling and ray tracing of particle transport to remove these geometrical limitations mentioned above. The diamond-difference scheme was applied to MOC to reduce the spatial discretization error of the flat flux approximation in theory. Based on MCAM and MOC, a new MOC code was developed and integrated into SuperMC system, which is a Super Multi-function Computational system for neutronics and radiation simulation. The numerical testing results demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the new idea for geometry treatment in SuperMC. (authors)

MCNP: a general Monte Carlo code for neutron and photon transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-11-01

The general-purpose Monte Carlo code MCNP ca be used for neutron, photon, or coupled neutron-photon transport, including the capability to calculate eigenvalues for critical systems. The code treats an arbitrary three-dimensional configuration of materials in geometric cells bounded by first- and second-degree surfaces and some special fourth-degree surfaces (elliptical tori). Pointwise cross-section data are used. For neutrons, all reactions given in a particular cross-section evaluation are accounted for. Thermal neutrons are described by both the free-gas and S(α,β) models. For photons, the code takes account of incoherent and coherent scattering, the possibility of fluorescent emission following photoelectric absorption, and absorption in pair production with local emission of annihilation radiation. MCNP includes an elaborate, interactive plotting capability that allows the user to view his input geometry to help check for setup errors. Standard features which are available to improve computational efficiency include geometry splitting and Russian roulette, weight cutoff with Russian roulette, correlated sampling, analog capture or capture by weight reduction, the exponential transformation, energy splitting, forced collisions in designated cells, flux estimates at point or ring detectors, deterministically transporting pseudo-particles to designated regions, track-length estimators, source biasing, and several parameter cutoffs. Extensive summary information is provided to help the user better understand the physics and Monte Carlo simulation of his problem. The standard, user-defined output of MCNP includes two-way current as a function of direction across any set of surfaces or surface segments in the problem. Flux across any set of surfaces or surface segments is available. 58 figures, 28 tables

MC++: A parallel, portable, Monte Carlo neutron transport code in C++

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.R.; Cummings, J.C.; Nolen, S.D.

1997-01-01

MC++ is an implicit multi-group Monte Carlo neutron transport code written in C++ and based on the Parallel Object-Oriented Methods and Applications (POOMA) class library. MC++ runs in parallel on and is portable to a wide variety of platforms, including MPPs, SMPs, and clusters of UNIX workstations. MC++ is being developed to provide transport capabilities to the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI). It is also intended to form the basis of the first transport physics framework (TPF), which is a C++ class library containing appropriate abstractions, objects, and methods for the particle transport problem. The transport problem is briefly described, as well as the current status and algorithms in MC++ for solving the transport equation. The alpha version of the POOMA class library is also discussed, along with the implementation of the transport solution algorithms using POOMA. Finally, a simple test problem is defined and performance and physics results from this problem are discussed on a variety of platforms

Spallation neutron production and the current intra-nuclear cascade and transport codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filges, D.; Goldenbaum, F.

2001-01-01

A recent renascent interest in energetic proton-induced production of neutrons originates largely from the inception of projects for target stations of intense spallation neutron sources, like the planned European Spallation Source (ESS), accelerator-driven nuclear reactors, nuclear waste transmutation, and also from the application for radioactive beams. In the framework of such a neutron production, of major importance is the search for ways for the most efficient conversion of the primary beam energy into neutron production. Although the issue has been quite successfully addressed experimentally by varying the incident proton energy for various target materials and by covering a huge collection of different target geometries --providing an exhaustive matrix of benchmark data-- the ultimate challenge is to increase the predictive power of transport codes currently on the market. To scrutinize these codes, calculations of reaction cross-sections, hadronic interaction lengths, average neutron multiplicities, neutron multiplicity and energy distributions, and the development of hadronic showers are confronted with recent experimental data of the NESSI collaboration. Program packages like HERMES, LCS or MCNPX master the prevision of reaction cross-sections, hadronic interaction lengths, averaged neutron multiplicities and neutron multiplicity distributions in thick and thin targets for a wide spectrum of incident proton energies, geometrical shapes and materials of the target generally within less than 10% deviation, while production cross-section measurements for light charged particles on thin targets point out that appreciable distinctions exist within these models. (orig.)

Spallation neutron production and the current intra-nuclear cascade and transport codes

Science.gov (United States)

Filges, D.; Goldenbaum, F.; Enke, M.; Galin, J.; Herbach, C.-M.; Hilscher, D.; Jahnke, U.; Letourneau, A.; Lott, B.; Neef, R.-D.; Nünighoff, K.; Paul, N.; Péghaire, A.; Pienkowski, L.; Schaal, H.; Schröder, U.; Sterzenbach, G.; Tietze, A.; Tishchenko, V.; Toke, J.; Wohlmuther, M.

A recent renascent interest in energetic proton-induced production of neutrons originates largely from the inception of projects for target stations of intense spallation neutron sources, like the planned European Spallation Source (ESS), accelerator-driven nuclear reactors, nuclear waste transmutation, and also from the application for radioactive beams. In the framework of such a neutron production, of major importance is the search for ways for the most efficient conversion of the primary beam energy into neutron production. Although the issue has been quite successfully addressed experimentally by varying the incident proton energy for various target materials and by covering a huge collection of different target geometries --providing an exhaustive matrix of benchmark data-- the ultimate challenge is to increase the predictive power of transport codes currently on the market. To scrutinize these codes, calculations of reaction cross-sections, hadronic interaction lengths, average neutron multiplicities, neutron multiplicity and energy distributions, and the development of hadronic showers are confronted with recent experimental data of the NESSI collaboration. Program packages like HERMES, LCS or MCNPX master the prevision of reaction cross-sections, hadronic interaction lengths, averaged neutron multiplicities and neutron multiplicity distributions in thick and thin targets for a wide spectrum of incident proton energies, geometrical shapes and materials of the target generally within less than 10% deviation, while production cross-section measurements for light charged particles on thin targets point out that appreciable distinctions exist within these models.

Resolution of the neutron transport equation by massively parallel computer in the Cronos code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zardini, D.M.

1996-01-01

The feasibility of neutron transport problems parallel resolution by CRONOS code's SN module is here studied. In this report we give the first data about the parallel resolution by angular variable decomposition of the transport equation. Problems about parallel resolution by spatial variable decomposition and memory stage limits are also explained here. (author)