Proposal of an Effective Initial Guess Scheme for Higher Harmonic Mode Calculation of Boiling Water Reactor Cores

Response functions of a BC501A liquid organic scintillator for neutrons up to 800 MeV have been measured at the heavy-ion accelerator of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan. A thick graphite target was bombarded with 400-MeV/u C ions and 800-MeV/u Si ions to produce high-energy neutrons whose kinetic energy was determined by the time-of-flight method. The measured response functions were compared with the results obtained using SCINFUL-QMD code, and the accuracy of the code was experimentally verified up to 800 MeV. This work will contribute to extending the energies measurable with our new radiation dose-monitoring system (DARWIN), which is based on the BC501A scintillator.     

Sequential Measurements of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Spectrum and Dose Rate at Sea Level in Sendai,Japan

The cosmic-ray neutron energy spectrum and dose rate were measured sequentially for two years from April 2001 up to March 2003 by using three neutron detectors, a ³He-loaded multi-moderator detector (Bonner ball), 12.7 cm diameter by 12.7 cm long NE213 organic liquid scintillator, and high-sensitivity rem (dose equivalent) counter at the Kawauchi campus of Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan of geomagnetic latitude, 29°N, and cutoff rigidity, 10.43 GV.

The neutron spectrum has three major peaks, thermal energy peak, evaporation peak around 1 MeV and cascade peak around 100 MeV. The ambient neutron dose equivalent rates measured by the rem counter, and the Bonner ball keep almost constant values of 4.0 and 6.5 (nSv/h), respectively, throughout this time period, after atmospheric pressure correction, and it often decreased about 30% after a large Solar Flare, that is called as the Forbush decrease. The total neutron flux was also obtained by the Bonner ball measurements to be 7.5×10-³ (n cm^?2.s^?1) in average. The altitude variation of neutron flux and dose was also investigated by comparing the measured results with other results measured at Mt. Fuji area and aboard an airplane, where the cutoff rigidities are similar.     

Development of the high-energy neutron fluence rate standard field in Japan with a peak energy of 45 MeV using the 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction at TIARA

In this study, we developed a 45 MeV neutron fluence rate standard of Japan. Quasi-monoenergetic neutrons with a peak energy of 45 MeV in the neutron standard field were produced by the ⁷Li(p,n)⁷Be reaction using a 50-MeV proton beam from an azimuthally varying field (AVF) cyclotron of the Takasaki Ion Accelerators for Advanced Radiation Application (TIARA). The neutron energy spectrum was measured using an organic liquid scintillation detector and a ⁶Li-glass scintillation detector by the time-of-flight method, and using a Bonner sphere spectrometer by the unfolding method. The absolute neutron fluence was determined using a proton recoil telescope (PRT) composed of the liquid scintillation detector and a Si(Li) detector that was newly developed in the present study. The detection efficiency of the PRT was obtained using the MCNPX code. The peak neutron production cross section for the ⁷Li(p,n)⁷Be reaction was also derived from the neutron fluence in order to confirm the neutron fluence of the TIARA high-energy neutron field. The peak neutron production cross section obtained in the present study was in good agreement with those of previous studies. The characteristics of the 45-MeV neutron field in TIARA were successfully evaluated in order to calibrate high-energy neutron detectors and high-energy neutron dosimeters.     

BC501液体闪烁体对n-γ及能量的分辨与其尺寸的关系

BC501液体闪烁体广泛应用于探测快中子，但测量伴随着很高的γ本底。为寻找具有较好的n-γ及能量分辨的BC501闪烁体，利用脉冲上升时间法，对几种不同尺寸的BC501闪烁体进行n-γ及能量分辨测量。在下阈0.75和1MeV下，分别测量了Am-Be中子源的n-γ分辨谱以及相同条件下的γ上升时间-幅度谱。测量了d-T中子源14MeV的反冲质子脉冲高度分布。对不同尺寸BC501闪烁体的n-γ及能量分辨进行了比较。实验表明，综合考虑n-γ和能量分辨，闪烁体的体积不应太大，长度应在保证效率的条件下适中选择。      

Characterization of the neutron flux distribution at the Athens Tandem Accelerator NCSR “Demokritos”

Quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams, in the energy range 7-11.5 MeV, produced via the ²H(d,n) reaction, have been used at the 5.5 MV tandem T11/25 Accelerator Laboratory of NCSR “Demokritos”. The flux variation of the neutron beam is monitored with a BF₃ detector, while the absolute flux is obtained with respect to reference reactions. An investigation of the energy dependence of the neutron fluence has been carried out using two independent techniques: by a liquid scintillator BC501A detector and deconvolution of its recoil energy spectra performed by means of the DIFBAS code, as well as via the multiple foil activation technique in combination with the SULSA unfolding code. The neutron facility has also been characterized by means of Monte Carlo simulations with MCNP5.     

Measurement of Double-Differential Neutron Emission Spectra from Uranium-238

We have performed the measurement of neutron emission spectra from ²³⁸U using a time-of-flight technique, and deduced the following data; (1) the prompt fission neutron spectra for 2 MeV incident neutrons at two emission angles of 90° and 135°, (2) the double-differential neutron emission cross sections at the incident energies of 1.2, 2.0, 4.2, 6.1 and 14.1 MeV. The emission spectra and the cross sections for scattering process were also deduced by subtracting the fission neutrons from the experimental spectra. The experimental results were compared with other experiments and the evaluations of JENDL-3 and ENDF/B-IV.

From the fission spectrum data ranging from 2 to 12 MeV, we have derived the best fit parameters for the Maxwellian and Watt type distribution functions. The experimental spectra are described with the Maxwellian spectrum with temperature of 1.24–1.26 MeV and are softer than both evaluations.

The spectra and cross sections for inelastic-scattering showed substantial disagreement with the evaluations concerning the discrete levels between 0.5 and 1.2 MeV, and continuum neutrons due to evaporation and pre-equilibrium processes. The secondary neutron angular distributions at 14 MeV incident energy were reproduced fairly well with the systematics.     

液闪探测器中子光响应函数刻度研究

BC501A液体闪烁体在临近空间高能中子测量中具有重要的应用价值,其光响应和能量分辨率对测量结果影响较大。对中子与BC501A液体闪烁体作用产生的反冲质子的光响应函数以及液闪的能量分辨函数进行了研究。利用5SDH-2串列加速器通过核反应获得单能脉冲中子源,实验获得单能中子的脉冲幅度谱,应用GEANT4等MC软件对实验进行模拟计算得到光响应谱,并与脉冲幅度谱进行拟合得到各能点中子的光输出以及其对应的能量分辨率,应用最小二乘法对中子光响应函数以及能量分辨函数进行了计算,并将计算结果与推荐光响应函数进行了对比分析。结果显示:模拟计算反冲质子能谱与单能中子脉冲幅度谱在末端边沿处拟合效果较好,中子光响应函数与其他文献中的研究结果基本一致。     

板状Bi样品泄漏中子和γ谱实验测量与模拟计算

通过飞行时间法,测量了氘氘脉冲中子与不同厚度209Bi样品作用后61°和119°方向的泄漏中子飞行时间谱和泄漏γ能谱,样品尺寸分别为30 cm×30 cm×5 cm、30 cm×30 cm×10 cm和30 cm×30 cm×15 cm。采用BC501A液体闪烁体探测器测量0.8～3.2 MeV能区的泄漏中子飞行时间谱,钾冰晶石探测器（CLYC）测量0.2～0.8 MeV的泄漏中子飞行时间谱和泄漏γ能谱。用MCNP-4C程序对泄漏中子飞行时间谱和泄漏γ能谱进行了模拟计算,²⁰⁹Bi的评价中子核数据分别采用了CENDL-3.1库、ENDF/B-Ⅷ.0库、JENDL-4.0库以及JEFF-3.3库中的数据,模拟结果分别与实验结果进行比较分析,研究结果表明,泄漏中子谱CENDL-3.1库的模拟结果在119°方向弹性峰位置有较严重的低估现象,JENDL-4.0库在1.5 MeV附近（第二非弹能区）有一定高估,而在低能区有明显低估;泄漏γ能谱JENDL-4.0库和JEFF-3.3库的模拟结果与实验结果偏差明显,而CENDL-3.1库符合较好。     

252Cf裂变γ射线伴随飞行时间法刻度液体闪烁体中子探测效率

宏观检验实验是检验核数据正确性的重要实验方法之一。液体闪烁体中子探测器是中子核数据宏观检验实验中快中子能谱测量的主要探测器,其探测效率曲线的准确性关系到实验结果的精度。本文采用²⁵²Cf中子源的伴随γ射线和飞行时间法测得了液体闪烁体对2.0～10.0 MeV中子的相对探测效率曲线,同时利用飞行时间法和400 kV脉冲中子发生器的d-D反应中子源测得了2.9 MeV单能中子的绝对探测效率。将相对探测效率曲线归一到单能点的绝对效率,得到探测器在这一能区的绝对探测效率曲线。使用蒙特卡罗程序NEFF模拟相同参数的液体闪烁体探测器对10.0 MeV以下中子的探测效率曲线。最后将实验结果与模拟结果对比,结果表明实验得到的探测效率曲线合理、准确。     

Neutron Total Cross Section for Iron around Resonance Valley near 24 keV

A neutron leakage spectrum from a nickel sphere surrounding a 14-MeV neutron source is measured and analyzed in order to verify the accuracy of nickel cross sections. Measurement is done by means of a time-of-flight technique in the range of 2–15 MeV using an NE213 scintillator, and compared with calculations carried out with MCNP, a continuous energy Monte Carlo transport code, using JENDL-3PR1 and ENDFIB-IV neutron libraries.

In spite of an overestimation of neutron flux near 13 MeV, the calculated result employing JENDL-3PR1 shows generally better agreement with the measured spectrum. In ENDF/B-IV usage, there is disagreement between measured and calculated spectra between 5 and 12 MeV. Problems in evaluated nuclear data for nickel are also described.     

Proposal of Method to Estimate Criticality Correction for Anisotropic Diffusion in Plate Lattice Fast Assembly

Measurements on the neutron and γ-ray attenuation in multi-legged air filled ducts have been carried out using a Cockroft-Walton type neutron generator. The measured spectra were obtained with an NE-213 liquid scintillator using pulse shape discrimination to resolve neutron and γ-ray pulse height data and using a spectral unfolding code to convert these data to energy spectra. Results are given for two rectangular duct geometries. A series of integral measurements have also been carried out with a long counter for fast neutrons and a radiation survey meter to measure the γ-ray dose. The biological dose arising due to the streaming of neutrons was measured with a rem counter. The results show the relative decrement of the integral counts along the axis of the duct. The spectral measurements reveal the presence of resonant windows of oxygen present in the concrete medium. Also the 14 MeV component is found to be dominant in the first leg of the duct whereas degraded neutrons dominate in the second leg. The results are compared with MORSE calculations.     

Measurement of neutron spectra through composed material block bombarded with D-T neutrons

A 2-dimensional composed material assembly made of the iron and hydric block has been established. The neutron spectra from the assembly bombarded with 14-MeV neutrons at neutron generator have been obtained using the proton recoil technique with a stillbene detector. The detector positions were selected at the 60°, 120°, 180° on the surface of the iron spherical shell. The background neutron spectra consisted of background and room return radiation were subtracted with combination of methods of experimental shielding and MCNP calculation. The uncertainty of results was 6.3-7.4%. The experiment results were analyzed and simulated by MCNP code and two data library. The difference is integral neutron flux (background neutron subtracted) of measured results greater than calculations with maximum of 21.2% in the range of 1-16 MeV.     

A function to provide neutron spectrum produced from the 9Be + p reaction with protons of energy below 12 MeV

A function to give the total neutron production cross section, angular distribution, and energy spectrum via the ⁹Be + p reaction has been created by fitting experimental data to characterize compact neutron sources with thick Be targets bombarded by protons with energy below 12 MeV. To examine the suitability of the function, calculations of the angle-dependent neutron energy spectra produced in thick Be targets with 4- and 12-MeV protons using the function were compared with corresponding experiments and calculations using the nuclear data libraries of ENDF/B-VII.0 and JENDL4.0/HE. The function was in better agreement with the experiments than the calculations using the libraries except for at backward angles. The ¹¹⁵In(n,n’)^115mIn reaction rates calculated using GEANT4 with source neutrons given by both the function and ENDF/B-VII.0 were compared with that measured at the RIKEN Accelerator-Driven Compact Neutron Source to evaluate the neutron spectrum above 1 MeV. The function slightly overestimated the measurement by 14% and the calculation with ENDF/B-VII.0 underestimated by 35%. It was concluded that the function can be applied in compact neutron source designs.     

Measurement and Analysis of Neutron Spectra in Lithium Fluoride and Polytetrafluoroethylene Piles

For the assessment of neutron cross section data for fluorine, angular neutron spectra in the lithium fluoride (LiF) and polytetrafluoroethylene ((CF₂)n) piles were measured in the energy range from a few keV to a few MeV by the time-of-flight method with an electron linac, and the results were compared with those calculated by using nuclear data from JENDL-2 and ENDF/B-IV. Spatial distributions of neutron and X-ray fluxes were also measured in the test piles by the activation method, and the influence of photoneutrons generated in the sample material on the neutron spectrum in each pile was estimated. As a result, it was found that their influence on the neutron spectrum shape below 1 MeV was not so large as was necessary to be taken into account for the present assessment.

The calculated spectra using the JENDL-2 data and the ENDF/B-IV data show generally good agreement with those measured in both piles. However, both calculations underestimate the neutron fluxes around several 100 keV, and overestimate those below 100 keV, when they are normalized in the energy range of 10 keV～1 MeV. Large discrepancies are found between the shapes of the measured and calculated spectra around the resonances of fluorine cross section below 100 keV. The present measurements and analyses suggest that the reevaluations of the inelastic and elastic scattering cross sections below 1MeV and the resonance cross sections below 100 keV are necessary to reduce the observed discrepancies.     

Neutron damage calculations in Cu,Nb and Au to 32 MeV: Application to sputtering and deuteron-breakup neutron sources

Primary recoil distributions and specific damage energies have been computed for high energy deuteron-breakup neutrons in Cu, Nb and Au. The calculations are based on theoretical neutron cross sections and consider in particular a d-Be spectrum broadly peaked at 15 MeV with some neutrons above 30 MeV. The theoretical results are similar to corresponding calculations for monoenergetic 15-MeV neutrons and are in good agreement with range measurements of (n, 2n) recoils generated by high energy d-Be neutrons in Nb and Au. The calculations are also consistent with recent d-Be neutron sputtering experiments in Nb and Au and demonstrate the usefulness of deuteron-breakup neutron sources for simulating fusion neutron effects.     

Response Functions of Phoswich-Type Neutron Detector for High-Energy Cosmic Ray Neutron Measurement

A phoswich-type neutron detector was developed in order to measure high-energy cosmic ray neutron spectra in aircraft. The neutron detector consists of an EJ309 organic liquid scintillator that is 121.7mm in diameter and 121.7mm in length and is covered with a 15mm thick EJ299-13 outer plastic scintillator. The neutron response functions of the detector are required for the unfolding method to obtain the energy spectrum. The neutron response functions were created based on MCNPX simulations using an anticoincidence mode with the experimental light-output correlations with particle energies, uniformity of light collection and energy resolutions. The light-output correlation with particle energy, the uniformity of light collection and the energy resolutions were evaluated based on experiments. Measurements of neutron response functions were performed using four quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams from 40 to 80 MeV p-Li reactions to verify the calculated results. The calculated response functions show good agreement with the measurements. The angular response of the phoswich detector was confirmed to be isotropic from the calculation. The photon response functions of the detector were also calculated and agreed well with the measurements for 6.129MeV photons. Neutron and photon response matrices were created up to 300 and 50 MeV, respectively, over a wide energy range for experimental flights.     

Measurement of Gamma-Ray Production Cross Sections of Iron for Incident Neutron Energies between 6 and 33 MeV

Measurement of differential γ-ray production cross sections, i.e. (n, x γ) cross sections, of Fe was made for neutron energies from 6 to 33 MeV. Neutrons used in the experiment were white neutrons produced with (p, n) reactions by 35 MeV protons using a thick Be target. The neutron energy was analyzed by the time-of-flight method and bunched into 3 MeV wide energy bins, for each of which the spectrum of secondary γ-rays produced in an Fe sample was measured by a BGO scintillator at an angle of 144° to the neutron beam direction.

The obtained (n, xγ) cross sections agreed well with other data and the evaluated data file of ENDF/B-IV at neutron energies below 15 MeV where data were existing. The JENDL-3 file overestimated the γ-ray spectra at γ-ray energies of 3 to 7 MeV. The present work newly provided the data in the neutron energy range above 20 MeV. The GNASH calculation made by Young reproduced the measured data fairly well even at these higher energies.     

涂硼电离室组合快中子探测器研制及其响应函数

研制了涂硼电离室组合快中子探测器。用外径分别为55、80、130、220、285 mm的5个高密度聚乙烯圆柱体作为快中子的慢化体包裹40 mm×200 mm的涂硼电离室,组合成一种可测量从热中子到十几MeV快中子的圆柱型Bonner探测器。借助Geant4蒙特卡罗方法模拟计算,给出了这种结构Bonner探测器探测系统的响应函数。将圆柱型Bonner探测器放置在标准中子源辐射场中进行了实验测量。在实际辐射场中,高密度聚乙烯圆柱体外径为220 mm时,圆柱型Bonner探测器的灵敏度达8.702×10^-15 A•cm²•s。同时对实验测量值与理论模拟结果进行了比较分析。结果表明,模拟结果与实验值在数据读取误差范围内吻合。     

Albedo Analytical Method for Multi-Scattered Neutron Flux Calculation in Cavity

A simple formula which describes multi-scattered neutron flux in a spherical cavity was derived based on the albedo concept. The formura treats a neutron source which has an arbitrary energy-angle distribution and is placed at any point in the cavity.

The derived formula was applied to the estimation of neutron fluxes in two cavities, i. e. a spherical concrete cell with a 14-MeV neutron source at the center and the “YAYOI” reactor cavity with a pencil beam of reactor neutrons. The results of the analytical formula agreed very well with the reference data in the both problems. It was concluded that the formula is applicable to estimate the neutron fluxes in a spherical cell except for special cases that tangential source neutrons are incident to the cavity wall.     

Measurement of Fast Neutron Spectrum Outside Beam Port by Li-6 Semiconductor Spectrometer

The neutron spectrum outside a beam port of the Tsing Hua Open-pool Reactor (THOR) has been obtained by using a ⁶LiF sandwich-type semiconductor neutron spectrometer. Only those neutrons between 0.5 and 8MeV have been shown.

The spectrum falls off exponentially above 4.5 MeV. The valley in the spectra at about 3.5 MeV may be due to the elastic scattering resonance of oxygen at that energy.