• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1041-1051
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• 2003

Neutron induced prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) offers a nondestructive, sensitive and relatively rapid method for the determination of trace and major elements and is proven to be convenient for online analysis of minerals, metals, coal, cement, petrochemical, coating, paper as well as many other materials and products. The technique has found many uses in medicine, industry, research, security and the detection of contraband items. This report reviews the present status and future trends of the PGAA techniques. Requirements for the system are neutron source, high resolution HPGe detectors with a high-voltage power supply, an amplifier, analog-to-digital converter, and a multichannel analyzer for the detection and measurement of prompt ${\gamma}$-ray emit form the neutron capture elements. Introducing a ${\gamma}$-${\gamma}$ coincidence system also improves the quality of the ${\gamma}$-ray spectrum by suppressing the background created from the Compton scattering of high energy prompt ${\gamma}$-rays. A PGAA system using a $^{252}Cf$ neutron source is currently under construction for the on-line measurement of several elements in aqueous samples at KAERI. The system can be applied for the detection of chemical weapons and explosives as well as various narcotics.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.942-948
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• 2021

The aim of this work is to help inform the decision for choosing a convenient material for the PGAA (Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis) collimator plug to be installed at the tangential channel of the Moroccan Triga Mark II Research Reactor. Two families of materials are usually used for collimator construction: a mixture of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with boron, which is commonly used to moderate and absorb neutrons, and heavy materials, either for gamma absorption or for fast neutron absorption. An investigation of two different collimator designs was performed using N-Particle Monte Carlo MCNP6.2 code with the ENDF/B-VII.1 and MCLIP84 libraries. For each design, carbon steel and lead materials were used separately as collimator heavy materials. The performed study focused on both the impact on neutron beam quality and the neutron-gamma background at the exit of the collimator beam tube. An analysis and assessment of the principal findings is presented in this paper, as well as recommendations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.30-41
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• 2002

The neutron beam is fully characterized for the prompt gamma activation analysis facility at Hanaro in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute(KAERI). The facility uses thermal neutrons which are diffracted vertically from a horizontal beam port by a set of pyrolytic graphite(PG) crystals positioned at the Bragg angle of 45" Neutron spectra, neutron flux and Cd-ratio are determined for the three extraction modes of diffracted beam by means of the theoretical and experimental efforts. To obtain theoretical result, the reflectivity of pyrolytic graphite is calculated in the diffraction model for mosaic crystal and the angular divergence after diffraction by mosaic crystal is estimated from Monte Carlo simulation. The time-of-flight spectrometer and gold activation wire are used for measuring the neutron spectra. Both the calculated and measured spectra have proven that the unique feature of polychromatic beam obtained by PG crystals are useful for PGAA. The thermal neutron flux of 7.9$\times$107 n/cm$^2$s and the Cd-ratio of 266 for gold have been achieved at the sample position while the reactor operates at 24 MW The uniformity of beam flux is 12% in the central 1$\times$1 cm$^2$ area. Finally, the beam is briefly characterized by the effective velocity and temperature which are determined by measuring the prompt Y-ray spectra for thin and thick boron samples.ples.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.391-398
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• 2003

Basic research for the determination of boron content in biological sample has been carried out using the PGAA facility of the 24MW research reactor(HANARO). For investigation of characteristics for the measurement condition, neutron flux and its homogeneity were measured at irradiating geometry. The size of thermal neutron beam collimated from beam guide is $2{\times}2cm^2$ at the sample position. The neutron flux measured was the range of $1.0{\sim}6.5{\times}10^7n{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, and flux distribution from center within the radius of 4.5 mm and 9.0 mm was $5.77{\pm}0.71{\times}10^7n{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ and $4.68{\pm}1.64{\times}10^7n{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, respectively. Accordingly, sample size is adjusted within 10 mm for a homogeneous irradiation of high quality. Measurement system is designed to reduce the background source by Compton scattering and to improve the analytical sensitivity. To investigate the energy calibration and Compton suppression effect of gamma-ray counting system, the background conditions on both of Compton and single-mode were measured using NaCl standard. On the other hand, degree of spectral interference for sodium 472 keV peak as a matrix effect in the sample is established for an accurate boron analysis, and then boron content in three certified reference materials (NIST SRM 1570a, 1547, 1573a) was measured by using two modes and the results were compared with each other.