• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.2999-3005
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• 2022

The new experimental setup has been built at the 11b channel of the IBR-2 research reactor at FLNP, JINR, to study the elemental composition of samples by registration of prompt gamma emission during thermal neutron capture. The setup consists of a curved mirror neutron guide and a radiation-resistant HPGe high-purity germanium detector. The detector is surrounded by lead shielding to suppress the natural background gamma level. The sample is placed in a vacuum channel and surrounded by a LiF shield to suppress the gamma background generated by scattered neutrons. This work presents characteristics of the experimental setup. An example of hydrogen concentration determining in a diamond powder made by detonation synthesis is given and on its basis, the sensitivity of the setup is calculated being ~4 ㎍.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.33-35
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• 2008

In the neutron capture experiment and calculation, the neutron absorption and scattering are very important. Especially these effects are conspicuous in the resonance energy region and below the thermal energy region. In the present study, we obtained energy dependent neutron absorption ratios of natural rhodium in energy region from 0.003 to 100 eV by MCNP-4B Code. The coefficients for neutron absorption was calculated for several types of thickness. In the lower energy region, neutron absorption is larger than higher region, because of large capture cross section (1/v). Furthermore it seems very different neutron absorption in the large resonance energy region. These results are very useful to decide the thickness of sample and shielding materials.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.67-73
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• 1985

The manganous sulfate bath method for neutron source calibrations at the K-SRI is described together with the measurement of neutron emission rate of a source and the corrections applied for capture by competing nuclei of neutrons, and thermal neutron leakage, neutron absorption in the source itself. The commercially available neutron sources (Am-Be, $^{252}Cf$) for the calibration checks of neutron radiation instruments in the MeV range are considered in this paper.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.15-15
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• 2011

As you know, boron compounds, borax ($Na_2B_4O_5(OH)_4{\cdot}8H_2O$) etc. were known thousands of years ago. As for natural boron, it has two naturally occurring and stable isotopes, boron 11 ($^{11}B$) and boron 10 ($^{10}B$). The neutron absorption $^{10}B$ is included about 19~20% with 80~81% $^{11}B$. Boron is similar to carbon in its capability to form stable covalently bonded molecular networks. The mass difference results in a wide range of ${\beta}$ values between the $^{11}B$ and $^{10}B$. The $^{10}B$ isotope, stable with 5 neutrons is excellent at capturing thermal neutrons. For example, it is possible to decrease a thermal neutron required for the nuclear reaction of uranium 235 ($^{235}U$). If $^{10}B$ absorbs a neutron ($^1n$), it will change to $^7Li+^1{\alpha}$ (${\alpha}$ ray, like $^4He$) with prompt ${\gamma}$ ray from $^{11}B$ $^{11}B$ (equation 1). $$^{10}B+^1n\;{\rightarrow}\;^{11}B\;{\rightarrow}\; prompt \;{\gamma}\;ray (478 keV), \;^7Li+4{\alpha}\;(4He)\;\;\;\;{\cdots}\; (1)$$ If about 1% boron is added to stainless steel, it is known that a neutron shielding effect will be 3 times the boron free steel. Enriched boron or $^{10}B$ is used in both radiation shielding and in boron neutron capture therapy. Then, $^{10}B$ is used for reactivity control and in emergency shutdown systems in nuclear reactors. Furthermore, boron carbide, $B_4C$, is used as the charge of a nuclear fission reaction control rod material and neutron cover material for nuclear reactors. The $B_4C$ powder of natural B composition is used as a charge of a control material of a boiling water reactor (BWR) which occupies commercial power reactors in nuclear power generation. The $B_4C$ sintered body which adjusted $^{10}B$ concentration is used as a charge of a control material of the fast breeder reactor (FBR) currently developed aiming at establishment of a nuclear fuel cycle. In this study for new boron compound, silicon boride ceramics for capturing thermal neutrons, preparation and characterization of both silicon tetraboride ($SiB_4$) and silicon hexaboride ($SiB_6$) and ceramics produced by sintering were investigated in order to determine the suitability of this material for nuclear power generation. The relative density increased with increasing sintering temperature. With a sintering temperature of 1,923 K, a sintered body having a relative density of more than 99% was obtained. The Vickers hardness increased with increasing sintering temperature. The best result was a Vickers hardness of 28 GPa for the $SiB_6$ sintered at 1,923K for 1 h. The high temperature Vickers hardness of the $SiB_6$ sintered body changed from 28 to 12 GPa in the temperature range of room temperature to 1,273 K. The thermal conductivity of the SiB6 sintered body changed from 9.1 to 2.4 W/mK in the range of room temperature to 1,273 K.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.415-417
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• 2008

This study is to measure the radiation dose of neutrons generated by the particle accelerator during X-ray (photon) treatment with a neutron detection method by using CR-39, and to research how the generation of neutrons may incur problems associated with radiation doses for patient treatment when using high energy photons for cancer treatment as a clinical application. The findings are summarized as follows : The results showed that average 0.35mSv was measured with exposure of 1Gy photon in case of fast neutron, 0.65mSv with exposure of 2Gy photon, 1.82mSv exposure of 5Gy, 0.26mSv with exposure of 1Gy photon in case of thermal neutron, 0.56mSv with exposure of 2Gy photon, and 1.23mSv with exposure of 5Gy of photon. By measuring the occurrence of neutron by using Wedge Filter, it has been confirmed that the occurrence of neutrons increased when using Wedge Filter. The results also showed that more neutrons were detected over the existing experiments when using an SRS Cone requiring high doses of radiation. Total 2.85mSv neutrons were found on the average with exposure of 5Gy photon in case of fast neutron and 1.37mSv neutrons were found on the average with exposure of 5Gy photon in case of thermal neutron. During the general treatment, about 1.6 times more neutrons over 5Gy photon were found in case of fast neutron and about 1.12 time more neutrons over 5Gy photon were found in case of thermal neutron.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.979-988
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• 2009

Tensioned metastable fluids provide a powerful means for low-cost, efficient detection of a wide range of nuclear particles with spectroscopic capabilities. Past work in this field has relied on one-component liquids. Pure liquids may provide very good detection capability in some aspects, such as low thresholds or large radiation interaction cross sections, but it is rare to find a liquid that is a perfect candidate on both counts. It was hypothesized that liquid mixtures could offer optimal benefits and present more options for advancement. However, not much is known about radiation-induced thermal-hydraulics involving destabilization of mixtures of tensioned metastable fluids. This paper presents results of experiments that assess key thermophysical properties of liquid mixtures governing fast neutron radiation-induced cavitation in liquid mixtures. Experiments were conducted by placing liquid mixtures of various proportions in tension metastable states using Purdue's centrifugally-tensioned metastable fluid detector (CTMFD) apparatus. Liquids chosen for this study covered a good representation of both thermal and fast neutron interaction cross sections, a range of cavitation onset thresholds and a range of thermophysical properties. Experiments were devised to measure the effective liquid mixture viscosity and surface tension. Neutron-induced tension metastability thresholds were found to vary non-linearly with mixture concentration; these thresholds varied linearly with surface tension and inversely with mixture vapor pressure (on a semi-log scale), and no visible trend with mixture viscosity nor with latent heat of vaporization.

• 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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

This study discusses the effect of using ²³²Th instead of ²³⁸U on the neutronic characteristics and the main operating parameters of the pressurized water reactor (PWR). MCNPX version 2.7 was used to compare the neutronic characteristics of UO₂ with (Th, ²³⁵U)O₂ and (Th, ²³³U) O₂. Firstly, the infinity multiplication factor (K_inf), thermal neutron flux, and power distribution have been studied for the investigated fuel types. Secondly, the effect of Gd₂O₃ and Er₂O₃ on the K_inf and on the radial thermal neutron flux and thermal power has been investigated to distinguish which of them is more suitable than the other in reactivity management. Thirdly, to illustrate the effectiveness of ²³²Th in decreasing the inventory of both the actinides and non-actinides, the concentration of plutonium (Pu) isotopes and minor actinides (MAs) has been simulated with the fuel burnup. Besides, due to their large thermal neutron absorption cross-section, the concentrations of ¹³⁵Xe, ¹⁴⁹Sm, and ¹⁵¹Sm with the fuel burnup have been investigated. Finally, the main safety parameters such as the reactivity worth of the control rods (ρ_CR), the effective delayed neutron fraction β_eff, and the Doppler reactivity coefficient (DRC) were calculated to determine to which extent these fuel types achieve the acceptable limits.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 1975

A study was made on the neutron dosimetry in a mixed gamma-neutron field with LiF thermoluminescent dosimeter. In order to estimate the neutron dose in a mixed field, $^{6}$ LiF and $^{7}$ LiF dosimeters were used for fast and thermal neutron doses. The over-all conversion factors for the effects of dosimeter positions were derived for personnel monitoring and the glow curves of the LiF dosimeters for neutron and gamma-ray doses were also analyzed.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.3418-3422
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• 2007

The neutron imaging technique was used to investigate the water discharge characteristics at PEMFC. Prior to investigation of water discharge characteristics, the linear attenuation coefficient for water at Neutron Radiography Facility (NRF) was calibrated. The feasibility test apparatus was consisted of pressurized air and water in order to simulate the actual operating PEMFC. The feasibility tests have been performed at 1-parallel serpentine type with 100 $cm^2$ active area and different air flow rate (1, 2, and 4 lpm). The total water volume variations at each condition were calculated from the neutron images. The water at channel is well discharged as soon as supplying the pressurized air into the PEMFC. However, because the water at MEA isn't removed the total water volume is constant after 150. Therefore more effective method is needed in order to discharge water at MEA, and the neutron imaging technique is helpful for it.