Hideki Harano

Accelerator‐based Neutron Fluence Standard of the National Metrology Institute of Japan

We report the present status of the national standard on accelerator‐based fast neutron fluences in Japan. Monoenergetic neutron fluence standards have been established at 144 keV, 565 keV, 5.0 MeV and 8.0 MeV by using a Van de Graaff accelerator and at 2.5 MeV and 14.8 MeV by using a Cockcroft Walton accelerator. These standards are prepared to measure the detection efficiency and the energy response of neutron sensitive devices, such as personal dosimeters and survey meters. Neutron production and absolute fluence measurement for these energies are described. We are developing a new standard in the energy region of a few tens of keV, which is also introduced here as well as our future plans.

Convenient method of relative calibration of the neutron source emission rate between different source types

Neutron source emission rates are determined by absolute or relative measurement. The relative measurement is performed by comparing between a sample source and a calibrated reference source of the same type. In this calibration, the energy spectra of the sample and reference sources should be identical, since normally there exists energy dependence in the response of neutron detectors. We propose a method of relative calibration of the neutron source emission rate between different source types and spectra. In the present method, a sample source or a calibrated reference source is located at the center of a graphite pile and thermal neutron flux at a special position is monitored and compared. We performed gold foil activation measurements at the NMIJ/AIST graphite pile and revealed that the thermal neutron flux at that position per unit source emission rate is independent on the types of neutron sources. The details of the physical mechanism were examined by calculating the spectral fluence of the neutrons thermalized inside the graphite pile using the MCNP4C code. We demonstrated this method using Am-Be, Ra(alpha)-Be, Cf, Pu-Be neutron sources and obtained the successful results which agreed within 1%

Neutron Dosimetry in Quasi-Monoenergetic Fields of 244 and 387 MeV

This paper describes the results of neutron spectrometry and dose measurements using a Bonner Sphere Spectrometer (BSS) at the ring cyclotron facility of the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University, Japan. Quasi-monoenergetic neutron fields were generated using the 7Li (p,n)7Be reaction and 246 and 389 MeV protons. Neutrons produced at 0° and 30° emission angles were extracted into a time-of-flight (TOF) tunnel, and the energy spectra were measured at a distance of 35 m from the target. To deduce the corresponding neutron spectra from thermal to the nominal maximum energy, the BSS data were unfolded using the MSANDB code and response functions were calculated by Monte Carlo (MC) methods. These spectra are compared to spectral measurements using NE213 organic liquid scintillators applying the TOF method. The results are discussed in terms of ambient dose equivalent H* (10) and compared with the readings of other instruments operated during the experiment.

Novel Generation Method of 24-keV Monoenergetic Neutrons Using Accelerators

This paper describes a novel 24‐keV monoenergetic neutron source that consists of an iron filter and a thick lithium target. The 24 keV neutrons are obtained with iron filtering of a neutron beam from the 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction near threshold energy using the 4 MV Pelletron accelerator. Neutron spectra were calculated using the NRESP‐ANT simulation code. This neutron source was investigated using a 3He cylindrical proportional counter to measure the spatial distribution and neutron flux.

Development of Failed Fuel Detection and Location Technique Using Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Rapid detection of fuel failures as well as failed fuel location are quite important for safety in fast reactor operation. As one of the failed fuel detection and location (FFDL) techniques, a tagging method has been adopted, where a tag gas with different isotopic abundance of krypton (Kr) and xenon (Xe) is loaded into each fuel pin, and analyzed when leaked into cover gas with fuel failure. On the other hand, with recent improvement of laser performance, resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS), which can detect specific atoms with high sensitivity and elemental selectivity, has been practicable in engineering application. We propose a new FFDL technique for fast reactor safety instrumentation based on monitoring of a very small amount of the Kr/Xe tag gas leaked into the cover gas by RIMS. Here are discussed the basic performance necessary to the design of RIMS-FFDL such as the detection limit and the elemental selectivity of Kr and Xe through basic experiments and numerical analyses. The applicability of the RIMS system to FFDL for fast reactors is also demonstrated through the detection and isotopic analysis of ppb level Kr/Xe tag gas in the cover gas sampled from the fast experimental reactor “JOYO”.

Neutron spectral fluence measurements using a Bonner sphere spectrometer in the development of the iBNCT accelerator-based neutron source

The neutron spectral fluence of an accelerator-based neutron source facility for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) based on a proton linac and a beryllium target was evaluated by the unfolding method using a Bonner sphere spectrometer (BSS). A 3He-proportional-counter-based BSS was used with weak beam during the development of the facility. The measured epithermal neutron spectra were consistent with calculations. The epithermal neutron intensity at the beam port was estimated and the results gave a numerical target for the enhancement of the proton beam intensity and will be used as reference data for measurements performed after the completion of the facility.

Time-of-Flight Measurements for Low-Energy Components of 45-MeV Quasi-Monoenergetic High-Energy Neutron Field from

A quasi-monoenergetic neutron field generated in the 7Li(p, n) reaction consists of a high-energy monoenergetic peak and a continuum to the low-energy region. In this study, the spectral fluence of the continuum was measured with the time-of-flight (TOF) method using a 6Li-glass scintillation detector and an organic liquid scintillation detector for the keV and MeV region, respectively. The neutron spectral fluence was determined down to the keV region by implementing a new beam chopping system and the results showed that the neutrons that came directly from the target had a lower energy limit about 100 keV. Discussions were made also on the effect of the time-independent neutrons which are assumed to be room-scattered neutrons. The obtained information is expected to contribute to understanding the quasi-monoenergetic high-energy neutron field and improvements of calibrating neutron detectors in the field.

{^7{\rm Li}({\rm p}, {\rm n})}

A small-sized thermal neutron detector based on a (6)Li-glass scintillator and a plastic optical fibre has been developed for precise measurement of the spatial distribution of thermal neutron fluence rate. This detector was tested in experiments performed using thermal neutrons. The detector is useful in a thermal neutron field. However, the gamma-ray discrimination ability of the (6)Li-glass scintillator is not good in a low-intensity thermal neutron field. A new idea using a gamma-ray suppression method is proposed to reduce the uncertainty in the neutron counts due to the gamma-ray background. A novel small-sized thermal neutron detector consists of a (6)Li-glass scintillator, a hollow CsI(Tl) scintillator and plastic optical fibres. The evaluation of the gamma-ray suppression ability of the detector using the EGS4 code indicates that the gamma-ray suppression is effective.

Reaction

Long counters are widely used as neutron fluence monitors for their flat response. However, a bulky neutron moderator is required to achieve the flat response, which can be a disadvantage for portability and an undesirable source of scattered neutrons. Reducing the size of the moderator degrades the flat response, especially for high-energy neutrons. We propose a new method to reduce the size of the moderator while keeping a flat response, and we develop a compact flat-response neutron detector. The detector consists of two small spherical 3 He proportional counters embedded at appropriate positions in a compact cylindrical polyethylene moderator. The sensitivity ratio between the two counters was adjusted to provide a flat response in the total outputs from the two counters. We demonstrated by MCNPX calculations and response measurements for Cf and Am-Be neutrons and monoenergetic neutrons that the present detector had a sensitivity comparable to long counters with a good flat response in a wide energy range up to 20 MeV while being only one-fifth of the weight of long counters. The positions of the effective center were determined as a function of neutron energy. We also proposed a method to evaluate the neutron energy using the detector, which will allow various new applications taking advantage of the ability to measure neutron fluence and energy at the same time.

New idea of a small-sized neutron detector with a plastic fibre

To investigate the characteristics of a reactor and a neutron generator, a small scintillation detector with an optical fiber with ThO(2) has been developed to measure fast neutrons. However, experimental facilities where (232)Th can be used are limited by regulations, and S/N ratio is low because the background counts of this detector are increase by alpha decay of (232)Th. The purpose of this study is to develop a new optical fiber detector for measuring fast neutrons that does not use nuclear material such as (232)Th. From the measured and calculated results, the new optical fiber detector which uses ZnS(Ag) as a converter material together with a scintillator have the highest detection efficiency among several developed detectors. It is applied for the measurement of reaction rates generated from fast neutrons; furthermore, the absolute detection efficiency of this detector was obtained experimentally.