• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제55권11호
• /
• pp.4002-4018
• /
• 2023

An integrated neutron interrogation system has been developed for non-destructive assay of highly-radioactive special nuclear materials, to accumulate knowledge of the method through developing and using it. The system combines a differential die-away (DDA) measurement system for the quantification of nuclear materials and a prompt gamma-ray analysis (PGA) system for the detection of neutron poisons which disturb the DDA measurements; a common D-T neutron generator is used. A special care has been taken for the selection of materials to reduce the background gamma rays produced by the interrogation neutrons. A series of measurements were performed to test the basic performance of the system. The results show that the DDA system can quantify plutonium of as small as 20 mg and it is not affected by intense neutron background up to 1.57 × 10⁷ s^-1 and gamma ray of 4.43 × 10¹⁰ s^-1. The gamma-ray background counting rate at the PGA detector was reduced down to 3.9 × 10³ s^-1 even with the use of the D-T neutron generator. The test measurements show that the PGA system is capable of detecting 0.783 g of boron and about 86.8 g of gadolinium in 30 min.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제35권4호
• /
• pp.347-355
• /
• 2003

The \gamma-ray spectrometer of the PGAA (Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis) facility constructed at HANARO of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute was upgraded to the multi-mode spectrometer including the single mode, the Compton suppression mode and the pair mode. The performance of the spectrometer was tested and summarized. The background count rate and the uncertainty of the detection efficiency were reduced greatly in comparison with those before the new installation.

• 분석과학
• /
• 제16권5호
• /
• pp.1041-1051
• /
• 2003

즉발감마선 중성자방사화법 (PGAA)은 시료내 미량 및 주원소를 빠르게 비파괴적으로 분석하는 방법으로 주로 광물, 금속, 석탄, 시멘트, 석유, 코팅, 제지 등 다양한 산업체에서 실시간 분석법으로 매우 유용하다. 이 방법은 제약과 관련된 산업체 또는 연구업무에도 활용되며, 마약 또는 폭발물과 같은 위험물질의 탐지에도 이용되고 있다. 본 총설은 즉발감마선 중성자 방사화법의 현재의 기술현황과 앞으로 연구추진 경향에 대하여 서술하였다. PGAA 시스템은 중성자 선원, 증성자 핵반응으로부터 발생하는 즉발감마선을 측정하기위한 다중채널분석기와 A/D 변환기 등의 전자모듈과 고분해능 HPGe 검출기로 구성된다. 속중성자의 콤프턴 산란에 의한 높은 바탕값은 감마-감마 동시계수장치의 도입으로 개선될 수 있다. 현재 $^{252}Cf$를 사용한 즉발감마선 중성자 방사화 장치는 수용액중에 존재하는 원소들의 실시간분석을 위해 한국원자력연구소에서 개발중에 있다. 이 장치는 다양한 마약 및 폭발물 또는 화학무기의 탐지에도 응용될 수 있다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제34권1호
• /
• pp.30-41
• /
• 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.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국원자력학회 2002년도 추계학술발표회요약집
• /
• pp.376.2-376
• /
• 2002

• 분석과학
• /
• 제22권4호
• /
• pp.302-306
• /
• 2009

철강 중의 미량 붕소는 소재의 기계적, 물리적 특성에 중요한 영향을 준다. 즉발감마선 방사화 분석법에 의해 저합금강 시료 중의 미량 붕소를 측정하였다. 시료는 한국표준과학연구원에서 제조한 저합금강 표준물질KRISS 101-01-C21~C26을 이용하였으며, 측정방법의 유효성 확인을 위해 NIST SRM 362, 364, 1761, 1762를 정확도관리용 시료로 사용하였다. NIST SRM 362를 제외하고는 측정 농도가 인증값의 불확도 범위내에서 잘 일치하였다. 불확도는 ISO guideline에 따라 평가하였으며, 포함인자 2를 적용하여 확장불확도를 산출하였다. 붕소 농도 mg/kg수준에서 상대확장불확도는 3%에서 7% 사이였다. 그 결과를 용매추출-유도결합플라스마 방출분광분석결과와 비교하여 제시하였다.

• 분석과학
• /
• 제16권5호
• /
• pp.426-429
• /
• 2003

Neutron induced prompt gamma-ray spectroscopy (NIPS) system equipped with a $^{252}Cf$ neutron source and a n-type coaxial HPGe detector was installed for the quantitative analysis of aqueous samples in KAERI, Korea. Since the thermal neutron flux for the $^{252}Cf$ neutron source is relatively low compared to that for the reactor, the use of a thermal neutron reflector in the NIPS system may lead to improved results. The enhancement by using various reflectors was carried out by comparing the Cl peak with or without a cadmium plate between sample and the $^{252}Cf$ source. The use of pyrolitic graphite as a reflector provided a good result.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• 제33권4호
• /
• pp.247-256
• /
• 2016

An analysis of light curves and spectra of observed gamma-ray bursts in gamma-ray ranges is frequently demanded because the prompt emission contains immediate details regarding the central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We have revisited the relationship between the collimation-corrected peak luminosity and the spectral lag, investigating the lag-luminosity relationships in great detail by focusing on spectral lags resulting from all possible combinations of channels. Firstly, we compiled the opening angle data and demonstrated that the distribution of opening angles of 205 long GRBs is represented by a double Gaussian function having maxima at ~ 0.1 and ~ 0.3 radians. We confirmed that the peak luminosity and the spectral lag are anti-correlated, both in the observer frame and in the source frame. We found that, in agreement with our previous conclusion, the correlation coefficient improves significantly in the source frame. It should be noted that spectral lags involving channel 2 (25-50 keV) yield high correlation coefficients, where Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) has four energy channels (channel 1: 15-25 keV, channel 2: 25-50 keV, channel 3: 50-100 keV, channel 4: 100-200 keV). We also found that peak luminosity is positively correlated with peak energy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제52권9호
• /
• pp.2072-2077
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of sensing changes in a tumor during boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) using a Monte Carlo simulation tool. In the simulation, an epi-thermal neutron source and a water phantom including boron uptake regions (BURs) were simulated. Moreover, this simulation also included a detector for positron emission tomography (PET) scanning and an adaptively-designed collimator (ADC) for PET. After the PET scanning of the water phantom, including the 511 keV source in the BUR, the ADC was positioned in the PET's gantry. Single prompt gamma rays were collected through the ADC during neutron irradiation. Then, single prompt gamma ray-based tomography images of different sized tumors were acquired by a four-step process. Both the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and tumor size were analyzed from each step image. From this analysis, we identified a decreasing trend of both the SNR and signal intensity as the tumor size decreased, which was confirmed in all images. In conclusion, we confirmed the feasibility of sensing changes in a tumor during BNCT using PET and an ADC through Monte Carlo simulation.

• 한국정보통신학회논문지
• /
• 제20권12호
• /
• pp.2410-2416
• /
• 2016

전 세계적으로 비핵화를 추구하고 있으나 북한의 계속되는 핵실험 등으로 핵폭에 대한 관심이 지속적으로 증가하고 있다. 핵 폭발 또는 우주환경에서의 발생되는 펄스형 감마선은 매우 짧은 시간동안 고에너지를 전달하기에 전자소자에 큰 피해를 줄 수 있다. 이러한 전자소자의 피해정도를 확인하기 위한 연구를 수행하려면 핵폭 또는 우주환경에서 발생할 수 있는 펄스형 감마선 조사시설이 필요하다. 본 논문에서는 펄스형 감마선 탐지 장치을 개발하고, 감마선 변환장치를 통해 펄스형 감마선을 생성한 후 그 출력을 분석하였다. 핵폭과 유사한 조건을 갖추기 위하여 포항가속기 연구시설의 전자빔가속장치를 이용하여 출력을 실험하였고, 그 결과 감마선 변환장치와 전지빔을 통해 생성한 펄스형 감마선의 방출과 그 출력특성을 확인하였다. 본 논문의 결과는 펄스감마선을 이용해야 하는 연구의 안정성과 정확성을 향상시키는데 기여할 것이다.