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Experimental and Monte Carlo simulation on new manganese bath facility for absolute neutron source emission rate measurement at ENEA-INMRI
- Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- This work deals with the absolute measurement of the neutron emission rate from a 241Am-Be source by means of the manganese sulphate bath technique, which is the principal method for the absolute determination of the neutron emission rate from radionuclide neutron sources. The facility consists of a spherical container filled with an aqueous solution of manganese sulphate with a 241Am-Be neutron source placed at the center. As well known, neutrons from the source, after having been thermalized by the aqueous solution, undergo neutron capture by hydrogen, manganese, sulphur, and oxygen nuclei, thus inducing a certain activity to the solution. Subsequent gamma spectrometry measurements of 56Mn activity generated by 55Mn neutron activation allows to determine the neutron emission rate of the source, The experimental activity has involved a variety of measurement techniques and calculation procedures, ranging from neutron reactor activation to liquid scintillation counting and Monte Carlo calculations. Neutron activations of 55Mn samples has been carried out with the TRIGA reactor of the ENEA-Casaccia Research Centre, and 56Mn activated samples were subsequently characterized by liquid scintillation counting, in order to obtain reference standards for the calibration of the NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors utilized to record gamma-ray emission from 56Mn. Monte Carlo calculations, carried out by the MCNPX code, were required to calculate neutron transport within the sulphate manganese bath, in particular to determine 55Mn neutron capture probability, and (n, α) and (n, p) concurrent reactions, as well as the neutron leakage. Such a procedure has allowed to maintaining the neutron emission rate uncertainty well below 1 %. All the measurements have been carried out at the ENEA-Casaccia Research Centre by the Italian National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology. © 2014 Akadémiai Kiadó.
- Subjects :
- Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Liquid scintillation
Nuclear Theory
Analytical chemistry
MCNP
Neutron activation
Manganese bath
Absolute measurement
Neutron emission rate
Analytical Chemistry
Neutron cross section
Neutron detection
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging
Neutron
Nuclear Experiment
Spectroscopy
Chemistry
Neutron stimulated emission computed tomography
Radiochemistry
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Pollution
Neutron temperature
Neutron capture
neutron activation
manganese bath
mcnp
neutron emission rate
absolute measurement
liquid scintillation
Nuclear Energy and Engineering
Neutron source
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....30fc85701b71965743349eab56bb0e47