Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Neutron diagnostics using nickel foil activation analysis in the KSTAR

  • Received : 2020.09.23
  • Accepted : 2021.03.22
  • Published : 2021.09.25
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Abstract

The spatial distribution and the energy spectrum of the neutron yield were investigated with the neutron activation analysis and MCNP simulation was carried out to verify the analysis results and to extend the results to a 3D mapping of the neutron yield distribution in the KSTAR. High purity Ni specimen was selected in the neutron activation analysis. Total neutron yields turned out to be 3.76 × 1012 n/s - 7.56 × 1012 n/s at the outer vessel of the KSTAR, two orders of magnitude lower than those at the inner vessel of the KSTAR, which demonstrates the attenuation of neutron yield while passing through the different structural materials of the reactor. Based on the fully expanded 3D simulation results, 2D cross-sectional distributions of the neutron yield on XY and ZX planes of KSTAR were examined. The results reveal that the neutron yield has its maximum concentration near the center of blanket and decreases with increasing proximity to the vacuum vessel wall.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIP: Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning) (No. NRF-2017M2B2B1072888) and by the "Human Resources Program in Energy Technology" of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP), granted financial resources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, & Energy, Republic of Korea (No. 20204030200100). And the first two author(San Chae and Jae-Yong Lee) contributed equally to this work.

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