• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.200-210
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• 2016

The neutron radiography reactor (NRAD) is a 250 kW Mark-II Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics (TRIGA) reactor at Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, USA. The East Radiography Station (ERS) is one of two neutron beams at the NRAD used for neutron radiography, which sits beneath a large hot cell and is primarily used for neutron radiography of highly radioactive objects. Additional fuel elements were added to the NRAD core in 2013 to increase the excess reactivity of the reactor, and may have changed some characteristics of the neutron beamline. This report discusses characterization of the neutron beamline following the addition of fuel to the NRAD. This work includes determination of the facility category according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, and also uses an array of gold foils to determine the neutron beam flux and evaluate the neutron beam profile. The NRAD ERS neutron beam is a Category I neutron radiography facility, the highest possible quality level according to the ASTM. Gold foil activation experiments show that the average neutron flux with length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) = 125 is $5.96{\times}10^6n/cm^2/s$ with a $2{\sigma}$ standard error of $2.90{\times}10^5n/cm^2/s$. The neutron beam profile can be considered flat for qualitative neutron radiographic evaluation purposes. However, the neutron beam profile should be taken into account for quantitative evaluation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1277-1281
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• 2020

A novel ceramic Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) has been developed to meet the demand of high counting rate for the neutron detection which is an alternative to ³He-based detector at China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). An experiment was performed to measure the neutron transmittance of ceramic-GEM and FR4-GEM at the small angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument. The result showed the ceramic-GEM has higher transmittance and less self-scattering especially for cold neutrons. One single ceramic GEM could give a gain of 10²-10⁴ in the mixture gas of Ar and CO₂ (90%:10%) and its energy resolution was about 27.7% by using ⁵⁵Fe X ray of 5.9 keV. A prototype has been developed in order to investigate the performances of the ceramic GEM-based neutron detector. Several neutron beam tests, including detection efficiency, spatial resolution, two-dimensional imaging, and wavelength spectrum, were carried out at CSNS and China Mianyang Research Reactor (CMRR). The results show that the ceramic GEM-based neutron detector is a good candidate to measure the high intensity neutrons.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.573-576
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• 2015

Recent discovery of $2M_{\odot}$ neutron stars in white dwarf-neutron star binaries, PSR J1614-2230 and PSR J0348+0432, has given strong constraints on the maximum mass of neutron stars. On the other hand, all well-measured neutron star masses in double neutron star binaries are still less than $1.5M_{\odot}$. These observations suggest that the neutron star masses in binaries may depend on the evolution process of neutron star binaries. In addition, recent works on LMXB (low-mass X-ray binaries) provides us the possibility of estimating the masses and radii of accreting neutron stars in LMXBs. In this talk, we discuss the implications of recent neutron star observations to the neutron star equation of states and the related astrophysical problems. For the evolution of neutron star binaries, we also discuss the possibilities of super-Eddington accretion onto the primary neutron stars.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.521-530
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• 2009

Neutron science and technology, the utilization of neutron beams for a wide variety of scientific and engineering research ranging from materials and life science to industrial applications, has been one of the key elements of modem science and technology. Currently, the neutron science and technology in Korea is in rapid growth with the operation of the 30 MW High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, which is one of the most powerful nuclear research reactors in the world. Furthermore, a state of the art HANARO cold neutron research facility, which will open a new era for the neutron science and technology in Korea, is expected to become available in 2010. In this paper, the progress of neutron science and technology in Korea is reviewed and its unprecedented new opportunities and challenges in coming years are presented.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1585-1589
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• 2007

The HANARO, a 30 MW multi-purpose research reactor in Korea, will be equipped with a neutron guide system, in order to transport cold neutrons from the neutron source to the neutron scattering instruments in the neutron guide hall near the reactor building. The neutron guide system of HANARO consists of the in-pile plug assembly with in-pile guides, the primary shutter with in-shutter guides, the neutron guides in the guide shielding room with dedicated secondary shutters, and the neutron guides connected to the instruments in the neutron guide hall. The functions of the in-pile plug assembly are to shield the reactor environment from a nuclear radiation and to support the neutron guides and maintain them precisely oriented. The primary shutter is a mechanical device to be installed just after the in-pile plug assembly, which stops neutron flux on demand. This paper describes the mechanical design of the in-pile plug assembly and the primary shutter for the neutron guide system at HANARO. The design of the guide shielding assembly for the primary shutter and the neutron guides is also presented.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2012

Several neutron measuring devices were tested under the neutron fields characterized with two distinct kinds of thermal and fast neutron spectrum. These neutron fields were constructed by the mixing of both thermal neutron fields and fast neutron fields. The thermal neutron field was constructed using by a graphite pile with eight AmBe neutron sources. The fast neutron field of 14 MeV was made by a DT neutron generator. In order to change the fraction of fast neutron fluence rate in each neutron fields, a neutron generator was placed in the thermal neutron field at 50 cm and 150 cm from the reference position. The polyethylene neutron collimator was used to make moderated 14 MeV neutron field. These neutron spectra were measured by using a Bonner sphere system with an LiI scintillator, and dosimetric quantities delivered to neutron surveymeters were determined from these measurement results.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.243-248
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• 2001

Neutron reference fields of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) for calibrating neutron measuring devices to be used in radiation workplace monitoring consist of two kinds of neutron spectra, the direct and the scattered neutron fields, which are produced by using radionuclide neutron sources, 252Cf and 241AmBe sources. Necessary parameters for calibration such as the anisotropy factor of each neutron source and the room-scattered fraction of some neutron surveymeters in the KAERI calibration facility were determined by calculation or measurement. Spectral measurement of scattered neutron fields were performed at each reference calibration point using a Bonner Multi-sphere Spectrometer (BMS) and the dosimetric quantities for calibration also estimated from the neutron energy spectra which were unfolded using the BUNKI code.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.467-470
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• 2007

Application field of neutron beam is very broad including industry, medicine and science. But the research and development and use of neutron beam is restricted within in narrow limits in this country, because neutron beam facility is insufficient - a big research facility of nuclear reactor(HANARO) and some small industrial facilities which use radioisotope neutron source are available. This paper compare and investigate the results of experiment and numerical analysis of the discharge in the spherically convergent beam fusion device which were expected as a portable neutron source. The spherically convergent beam fusion device will offer stability in neutron production, possibility of movement for convenience, low construction cost and higher neutron flux than radioisotope neutron source. The star mode discharge which efficiently generate neutron, were observed at both results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1995.05a
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• pp.937-942
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• 1995

Great interest has prompted Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) as a new treatment for brain tumors. The use of $^{252}$Cf as a neutron source for BNn makes the in-hospital treatments of tumors to be possible. Newly proposed subcritical multiplying assemblies (SMA) are explored to improve relatively tow neutron fluxes of the source and construct the feasibilities of $^{252}$Cf as a neutron source. The MCNP code has been used to evaluate the effective multiplication factor of the entire system and the intensities and percentages of epithermal neutron flux at the patient-end surface of the system. The neutron beam using SMA shows the epithermal neutron flux enhancement of about 13 times as large as the beam without using SMA. It is expected that the neutron beam proposed in this research will be more effective for treatment of tumors due to the increased therapeutic neutron fluxes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.3012-3017
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• 2021

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.