• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제42권3호
• /
• pp.141-145
• /
• 2017

Background: The concrete walls inside the vaults of cyclotron facilities are activated by neutrons emitted by the targets during radioisotope production. Reducing the amount of radioactive waste created in such facilities is very important in case they are decommissioned. Thus, we proposed a strategy of reducing the neutron activation of the concrete walls in cyclotrons during operation. Materials and Methods: A polyethylene plate and B-doped Al sheet (30 wt% of B and 2.5 mm in thickness) were placed in front of the wall in the cyclotron room of a radioisotope production facility for pharmaceutical use. The target was Xe gas, and a Cu block was utilized for proton dumping. The irradiation time, proton energy, and beam current were 8 hours, 30 MeV, and $125{\mu}A$, respectively. To determine a suitable thickness for the polyethylene plate set in front of the B-doped Al sheet, the neutron-reducing effects achieved by inserting such sheets at several depths within polyethylene plate stacks were evaluated. The neutron fluence was monitored using an activation detector and 20-g on de Au foil samples with and without 0.5-mm-thick Cd foil. Each Au foil sample was pasted onto the center of a polyethylene plate and B-doped Al sheet, and the absolute activity of one Au foil sample was measured as a standard using a Ge detector. The resulting relative activities were obtained by calculating the ratio of the photostimulated luminescence of each foil sample to that of the standard Au foil. Results and Discussion: When the combination of a 4-cm-thick polyethylene plate and B-doped Al sheet was employed, the thermal neutron rate was reduced by 78%. Conclusion: The combination of a 4-cm-thick polyethylene plate and B-doped Al sheet effectively reduced the neutron activation of the investigated concrete wall.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제36권1호
• /
• pp.44-51
• /
• 2011

원자력발전소, 의료용 가속기 등 고선량 지역 및 능동형 열중성자 검출기를 사용하기 힘든 환경에서는 방사화 포일 기반 보너구 스펙트로메터를 사용하여 중성자 에너지 스펙트럼 측정을 수행한다. 중성자 방사화 포일을 보너구의 열중성자 검출기로 사용하는 경우, 중성자 방사화 포일의 위치 변동에 따른 보너구 반응도의 변화 및 중성자 방사화 포일의 질량과 반응도 사이의 상관관계 등 특성연구가 선행되어야만 한다. 본 연구에서는 MCNPX 모사계산을 통하여 중성자 방사화 포일 면에 수직입사하는 경우 중성자 방사화 포일의 위치 의존성이 크다는 사실과 중성자 방사화 포일의 질량과 반응도 사이에 선형관계가 없음을 알 수 있었다. 본 연구를 통하여 중성자 방사화 포일 기반 보너구의 반응함수 계산 방법 및 중성자 방사화 포일 위치 및 질량 차이에 따른 반응도 변화를 연구함으로써 중성자 방사화 포일 기반 보너구의 반응함수 결정방법을 확립하였다. 본 연구결과를 바탕으로 보너구 반응함수를 계산하여 추후 중성자 방사화 포일 기반 보너구 스펙트로메트리에 적용할 예정이다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제48권2호
• /
• pp.525-532
• /
• 2016

High-energy linear accelerators are increasingly used in the medical field. However, the unwanted photo-neutrons can also be contributed to the dose delivered to the patients during their treatments. In this study, neutron fluxes were measured in a solid water phantom placed at the isocenter 1-m distance from the head of an18-MV linac using the foil activation method. The produced activities were measured with a calibrated well-type Ge detector. From the measured fluxes, the total neutron fluence was found to be $(1.17{\pm}0.06){\times}10^7n/cm^2$ per Gy at the phantom surface in a $20{\times}20cm^2$ X-ray field size. The maximum photo-neutron dose was measured to be $0.67{\pm}0.04$ mSv/Gy at $d_{max}=5cm$ depth in the phantom at isocenter. The present results are compared with those obtained for different field sizes of $10{\times}10cm^2$, $15{\times}15cm^2$, and $20{\times}20cm^2$ from 10-, 15-, and 18-MV linacs. Additionally, ambient neutron dose equivalents were determined at different locations in the room and they were found to be negligibly low. The results indicate that the photo-neutron dose at the patient position is not a negligible fraction of the therapeutic photon dose. Thus, there is a need for reduction of the contaminated neutron dose by taking some additional measures, for instance, neutron absorbing-protective materials might be used as aprons during the treatment.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제53권9호
• /
• pp.3012-3017
• /
• 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.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국원자력학회 1996년도 춘계학술발표회논문집(1)
• /
• pp.197-201
• /
• 1996

In the detail reaction-rate measurements in a critical assembly using the foil activation method, the measured activations of detector foils have inevitably errors caused by detector foil self-shielding effect. If neutron flux could be approximated to Westcott flux: i.e. well thermalized Maxwellian distribution, these activations of detector foil could be corrected to represent the unperturbated flux at any detected position in the cell with using Westcott option and reaction-rate option of the lattice code, WIMS-AECL. These calculated detector material self-shielding correction factors of the tested fuel, CANFLEX provided much information about neutron spectrum of test lattice cell as well as the correction factors themselves. The results could be verified by another lattice calculations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제11권1호
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 1979

TRIGA Mark II 원자로심에서 반응율을 측정하여 중성자 spectrum parameter인 상대적인 증성자 온도 T$^{n}$ 과 열외중성자 지수 (equation omitted)를 얻기 위해 해석하였다. 측정은 경수 환경하에 있는 central thimble과 F2위치에서 수행되었다. 상대적인 중성자 온도는 Lu과 Mn의 방사화율로 표시되며 열외중성자 지수는 Au와 Mn의 반응율에 의go서 측정된다. 이들 검출박의 상대적인 ${\gamma}$-에너지는 multichannel analyzer에 의해서 분석되었다. 실험 결과는 이론적인 계산치와 비교 평가되었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제48권1호
• /
• pp.200-210
• /
• 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
• /
• 제45권1호
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2013

Neutron spectrum analyses of spallation neutrons are conducted in the accelerator-driven system (ADS) facility at the Kyoto University Critical Assembly (KUCA). High-energy protons (100 MeV) obtained from the fixed field alternating gradient accelerator are injected onto a tungsten target, whereby the spallation neutrons are generated. For neutronic characteristics of spallation neutrons, the reaction rates and the continuous energy distribution of spallation neutrons are measured by the foil activation method and by an organic liquid scintillator, respectively. Numerical calculations are executed by MCNPX with JENDL/HE-2007 and ENDF/B-VI libraries to evaluate the reaction rates of activation foils (bismuth and indium) set at the target and the continuous energy distribution of spallation neutrons set in front of the target. For the reaction rates by the foil activation method, the C/E values between the experiments and the calculations are found around a relative difference of 10%, except for some reactions. For continuous energy distribution by the organic liquid scintillator, the spallation neutrons are observed up to 45 MeV. From these results, the neutron spectrum information on the spallation neutrons generated at the target are attained successfully in injecting 100 MeV protons onto the tungsten target.

• 분석과학
• /
• 제17권4호
• /
• pp.302-307
• /
• 2004

환경시료중의 극미량의 악티늄계 동위원소들을 분석하기는 무척 어렵다. 이들 원소들은 개별 분리하는 작업이 필요하며, 알파분광법으로 분석한 어떤 핵종들은 검출감도도 높은 편이다. 이런 극미량의 악티늄계 동위원소들을 분석하기 위해 용매추출법이 결합된 TRU-Spec 이온교환수지와 음이온 교환수지를 사용하여 악티늄계 원소들을 분리한 후 알파분광법으로 검출하였다. 그리고 U과 Th의 검출한계를 낮추기 위해 중성자방사화분석법을 적용하였다. 중성자방사화분석법을 적용하기 위한 바탕물질로 고순도 V foil을 사용하여 검출감도를 10배 향상시킬 수 있었으며, 이 분석법을 표준시료인 NIST-4354, IAEA-368 퇴적물 시료에 적용한 결과 표준값과 10% 이내에서 잘 일치하였다.