Z. Q. Cui

Diagnosing NB plasmas on the EAST tokamak with new time-of-flight neutron spectrometer

The new neutron spectrometer time-of-flight enhanced diagnostics (TOFED) for the EAST tokamak is presented and its characteristics are described in terms of simulation results, as well as the interface in the torus hall along with new neutral beam (NB) injectors. The use of TOFED for studies of the slowing down of NB-injected deuterons is illustrated. The implications of measuring the neutron emission on a long pulse machine are discussed together with the experimental challenges and diagnostic possibilities approaching those to be encountered in continuous operation.

Data acquisition system with pulse height capability for the TOFED time-of-flight neutron spectrometer

A new time-of-flight neutron spectrometer TOFED has been constructed for installation at Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak. A data acquisition system combining measurements of flight time and energy from the interaction of neutrons with the TOFED scintillators has been developed. The data acquisition system can provide a digitizing resolution better than 1.5% (to be compared with the >10% resolution of the recoil particle energy in the plastic scintillators) and a time resolution <1 ns. At the same time, it is compatible with high count rate event recording, which is an essential feature to investigate phenomena occurring on time scales faster than the slowing down time (≈100 ms) of the beam ions in the plasma. Implications of these results on the TOFED capability to resolve fast ion signatures in the neutron spectrum from EAST plasmas are discussed.

Design of a magnetic shielding system for the time of flight enhanced diagnostics neutron spectrometer at Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak.

The novel neutron spectrometer TOFED (Time of Flight Enhanced Diagnostics), comprising 90 individual photomultiplier tubes coupled with 85 plastic scintillation detectors through light guides, has been constructed and installed at Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak. A dedicated magnetic shielding system has been constructed for TOFED, and is designed to guarantee the normal operation of photomultiplier tubes in the stray magnetic field leaking from the tokamak device. Experimental measurements and numerical simulations carried out employing the finite element method are combined to optimize the design of the magnetic shielding system. The system allows detectors to work properly in an external magnetic field of 200 G.

Experimental determination of the response functions of a Bonner sphere spectrometer to monoenergetic neutrons

A Bonner sphere spectrometer (BSS) plays an important role in characterizing neutron spectra and determining their neutron dose in a neutron-gamma mixed field. A BSS consisting of a set of nine polyethylene spheres with a (3)He proportional counter was developed at Peking University to perform neutron spectrum and dosimetry measurements. Response functions (RFs) of the BSS were calculated with the general Monte Carlo code MCNP5 for the neutron energy range from thermal up to 20 MeV, and were experimentally calibrated with monoenergetic neutron beams from 144 keV to 14 MeV on a 4.5 MV Van de Graaff accelerator. The calculated RFs were corrected with the experimental values, and the whole response matrix was completely established. The spectrum of a (241)Am-Be source was obtained after unfolding the measurement data of the BSS to the source and in fair agreement with the expected one. The integral ambient dose equivalent corresponding to the spectrum was 0.95 of the expected value. Results of the unfolded spectrum and the integral dose equivalent measured by the BSS verified that the RFs of the BSS were well established.

Light output function and assembly of the time-of-flight enhanced diagnostics neutron spectrometer plastic scintillators for background reduction by double kinematic selection at EAST

The 2.5 MeV neutron spectrometer TOFED (Time-Of-Flight Enhanced Diagnostics) has been constructed to perform advanced neutron emission spectroscopy diagnosis of deuterium plasmas on EAST. The instrument has a double-ring structure which, in combination with pulse shape digitization, allows for a dual kinematic selection in the time-of-flight/recoil proton energy (tof/Ep) space, thus improving the spectrometer capability to resolve fast ion signatures in the neutron spectrum, in principle up to a factor ≈100. The identification and separation of features from the energetic ions in the neutron spectrum depends on the detailed knowledge of the instrument response function, both in terms of the light output function of the scintillators and the effect of undesired multiple neutron scatterings in the instrument. This work presents the determination of the light output function of the TOFED plastic scintillator detectors and their geometrical assembly. Results from dedicated experiments with γ-ray sources and quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams are presented. Implications on the instrument capability to perform background suppression based on double kinematic selection are discussed.

Design of the radiation shielding for the time of flight enhanced diagnostics neutron spectrometer at Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak.

A radiation shielding has been designed to reduce scattered neutrons and background gamma-rays for the new double-ring Time Of Flight Enhanced Diagnostics (TOFED). The shielding was designed based on simulation with the Monte Carlo code MCNP5. Dedicated model of the EAST tokamak has been developed together with the emission neutron source profile and spectrum; the latter were simulated with the Nubeam and GENESIS codes. Significant reduction of background radiation at the detector can be achieved and this satisfies the requirement of TOFED. The intensities of the scattered and direct neutrons in the line of sight of the TOFED neutron spectrometer at EAST are studied for future data interpretation.

Neutron emission measurement at the HL-2A tokamak device with a liquid scintillation detector

Neutron emission measurement at the HL-2A tokamak device with a liquid scintillation detector is described. The detector was placed at a location with little structure material in the field of view, and equipped with a gain monitoring system which could provide the possibility to evaluate the gain variation as well as to correct for the detector response. Time trace of the neutron emissivity was obtained and it was consistent with the result of a standard (235)U fission chamber. During the plasma discharge the neutron yield could vary by about four orders of magnitude and the fluctuation of the detector gain was up to about 6%. Pulse height spectrum of the liquid scintillation detector was constructed and corrected with the aid of the gain monitoring system, and the correction was found to be essential for the assessment of the neutron energy spectrum. This successful measurement offered experience and confidence for the application of liquid scintillation detectors in the upcoming neutron camera system.

Conceptual design of a camera system for neutron imaging in low fusion power tokamaks

The basic principles for designing a camera system for neutron imaging in low fusion power tokamaks are illustrated for the case of the HL-2A tokamak device. HL-2A has an approximately circular cross section, with total neutron yields of about 1012 n/s under 1 MW neutral beam injection (NBI) heating. The accuracy in determining the width of the neutron emission profile and the plasma vertical position are chosen as relevant parameters for design optimization. Typical neutron emission profiles and neutron energy spectra are calculated by Monte Carlo method. A reference design is assumed, for which the direct and scattered neutron fluences are assessed and the neutron count profile of the neutron camera is obtained. Three other designs are presented for comparison. The reference design is found to have the best performance for assessing the width of peaked to broadened neutron emission profiles. It also performs well for the assessment of the vertical position.

Study of advanced neutron emission spectrometry diagnostics for tokamak fusion experiments

The research progress of fusion neutron emission spectrometers in the EAST and HL-2A takamaks is reviewed.Considering the requirements for plasma physics research and neutron diagnostic development for the ITER device,two digital liquid scitillation spectrometers and a stilbene crystal spectrometer were set up for the discharges with the low neutron yield(109–1011s 1) on EAST and HL-2A. We present some neutron spectrometry diagnostic results,such as the time traces of fusion neutron count rates during the EAST discharges, the evaluation of the heating effect in HL-2A neutral beam injection experiments and the neutron diagnostics of sawtooth instability in EAST plasmas.The ion temperature diagnostics of the core plasma were made by using the stilbene neutron spectrometer and the liquid scintillation neutron spectrometer in EAST, and the ion temperature measurement with the neutron emission spectrometer for the plasma with low temperature, which was less than 1 keV, was sfor the first time. A double ring neutron time-of-flight array spectrometer was designed and constructed on EAST for the fast ion physics and tokamak auxiliary heating research.