• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제29권1호
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2004

In order to save time and money needed in the purchase commonly used gamma-ray standard sources, a new radioactive standard source was manufactured by the neutron activation of some regent in the research reactor HANARO. The source was manufactured with an aqueous solution by mixing and dissolving the irradiated reagents. The manufactured source was compared with a commercial standard source. It was confirmed that it could be used as an efficiency calibration source. Also, in order to compare the variation of efficiency due to the volume difference for various containers used in radioactivity assay, the efficiency variation as a function of sample volume was investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• 제17권3호
• /
• pp.473-479
• /
• 2023

In this study, the dose of photoneutrons generated during radiotherapy of prostate cancer using high energy was measured using a photo-stimulated luminescence dosimeter. In addition, this study was intended to study the probability of side effects occurring in the abdomen. A medical linear accelerator capable of generating 15 MV energy, True Beam STx (Varian Medical Systems, USA) and a radiation treatment planning system (Eclipse, Varian Medical Systems, USA) were used. A human body phantom was installed on the couch of the linear accelerator, and an Albedo Neutron Optical Stimulation Luminescence Neutron Detector (Landauer Inc., IL, USA) was used to measure the photoneutron dose. The photoneutron dose value in the abdomen of VMAT and 3C-CRT was 52.8 mSv, more than twice as high as VMAT compared to 3D-CRT. During radiotherapy of prostate cancer, the probability of causing side effects in the abdomen due to light neutron dose was calculated to be 3.2 per 1,000 for VMAT and 1.4 for 3D-CRT. By studying the abdomen, which has a major side effect that can occur during radiotherapy of prostate cancer, it is expected that it will be used as a meaningful study to study the quality of life and stochastic effect of prostate cancer patients

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제54권9호
• /
• pp.3488-3493
• /
• 2022

Accelerator driven subcritical systems have long been discussed as facilities which can be used for solving the nuclear waste problem. The physics of these systems is very different from conventional reactors and new techniques had to be developed for reactivity monitoring. One such technique is the Area Ratio Method which studies the response of a subcritical system upon insertion of a large number of neutron pulses. An issue associated with this technique is the spatial dependence of measured reactivity which is intrinsic to the sub criticality of the system since the reactor does not operate on the fundamental mode and measured reactivity depends on the detector position. This is generally addressed by defining Bell-Glasstone spatial correction factor. This factor upon multiplication with measured reactivity gives the correct reactivity which is independent of detector location. Monte Carlo Methods are used for evaluating these factors. This paper presents a complete three dimensional map of spatial correction factors for BRAHMMA subcritical system. In addition, the dataset obtained also helps in identifying detector locations where the correction factor is close to unity, thereby implying no correction if the detector is used at those locations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• 제7권3호
• /
• pp.245-249
• /
• 2013

Neutron sources from photonuclear reaction with 46-MeV electron linear accelerator at Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University used for resonance energy measurement of natural tantalum. BGO($Bi_4Ge_3O_{12}$) scintillation detectors used for measurement of the prompt gamma ray from the natural tantalum sample. The BGO spectrometer was composed geometrically as total energy absorption detector. The electric signal from the spectrometer was analyzed for TOF(Time-of-Flight) spectrum which is used identification of neutron capture resonance energy. In this study, the neutron energy region is from 1 to 200 eV, because of strong X-ray effect produced photonuclear reaction in Ta target, the measurement was performed to below 1 keV energy region. The resonance energy was compared with the evaluated values(ENDF/B-VI, Mughabghab). All of the resonances from 4.28 ~ 200 eV were seen in the present measurement except 144.3 eV resonance.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• 제27권1호
• /
• pp.104-111
• /
• 1993

Trace elements are important components in the biological system, as a structural material and metabolic controller. Neutron activation analysis (NAA) with high neutron flux and high energy resolution Ge (Li) detector coupled to multichannel analyzer (MCA) has been one of the most accurate method for the determination of ultra-trace level components, and is applicable to biological material. In human body, the NAA can be used for quantitation of trace elements in various organs and tissue with endocrinological and metabolic disease and industrial metal poisoning. In this study, Triga Mark III nuclear reactor in Korea Atomic Research Institute was used for quantitation of trace eleement in human lung cancer tissues by neutron activation analysis. In the squamous cell carcinoma tissues, Br, Hg, La, Sb, Sc, Cl, Fe and I content were lower than normal lung tissues, and K, Rb and Se content were higher. In the adenocarcinoma tissues, Fe, Au, La, Sc and Zn content were lower than normal lung tissues, and Rb, Co and Se content were higher. Rb content was higher in the adenocarcinoma tissues than in the squamous cell carcinoma tissues. Fe and Na content were higher in the squamous cell carcinoma tissues than in the adenocarcinoma tissues.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제46권6호
• /
• pp.837-846
• /
• 2014

A lead slowing down spectrometer (LSDS) is under development for analysis of isotopic fissile material contents in pyro-processed material, or spent fuel. Many current commercial fissile assay technologies have a limitation in accurate and direct assay of fissile content. However, LSDS is very sensitive in distinguishing fissile fission signals from each isotope. A neutron spectrum analysis was conducted in the spectrometer and the energy resolution was investigated from 0.1eV to 100keV. The spectrum was well shaped in the slowing down energy. The resolution was enough to obtain each fissile from 0.2eV to 1keV. The detector existence in the lead will disturb the source neutron spectrum. It causes a change in resolution and peak amplitude. The intense source neutron production was designed for ~E12 n's/sec to overcome spent fuel background. The detection sensitivity of U238 and Th232 fission chamber was investigated. The first and second layer detectors increase detection efficiency. Thorium also has a threshold property to detect the fast fission neutrons from fissile fission. However, the detection of Th232 is about 76% of that of U238. A linear detection model was set up over the slowing down neutron energy to obtain each fissile material content. The isotopic fissile assay using LSDS is applicable for the optimum design of spent fuel storage to maximize burnup credit and quality assurance of the recycled nuclear material for safety and economics. LSDS technology will contribute to the transparency and credibility of pyro-process using spent fuel, as internationally demanded.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제4권4호
• /
• pp.280-293
• /
• 1972

The differential fast neutron spectra above 0.5 Mev at particular spatial positions in tile reactor(TRIGA MARK-II) core has been determined experimentally using several threshold activation detectors. The series expansion technique utilizing the concept of least squares optimization was used to obtain an approximate solution to the set of integral equations which are defined by the experimentally determined activation data. The influence of use of different weighting functions in the solution was analyzed in each measurement. To carry out the necessary mathematical calculations, a computer code for the UNIVAC 1106 digital computer has been prepared. Good agreement was achieved between the differential fast neutron spectra determined in this work and the computed flux determined independently using space-independent multigroup transport theory.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제4권2호
• /
• pp.116-131
• /
• 1972

A fast neutron time-of-flight spectrometer has been constructed with suitable choice of target thickness and proton bombarding energy in Li$^{7}$ (p, n) Be$^{7}$ nuclear reaction for a continuous keV spectrum of neutrons at 0 degree in 1-nsec pulse from a Van do Graaff and a time-pick-up fast neutron detector assembled with a 5 mm-thick 92% enriched B$^{10}$ slab and four heavily shielded 4＂$\times$3＂ NaI scintillation detectors. Energy resolution of this spectrometer is better than 0.3% at 50 keV and the signal-to-background ratio is also improved. Total cross section measurements of several separated single isotopes have been carried out with this spectrometer and analyzed by Rmaxtrix multi-level computer code. The spin values and resonance parameters of each individual resonances are given.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제51권3호
• /
• pp.818-824
• /
• 2019

In the present work, we determined the gamma-ray attenuation characteristics of eight different polymers(Polyamide (Nylon 6) (PA-6), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinylidenechloride (PVDC), polyaniline (PANI), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), polyphenylenesulfide (PPS), polypyrrole (PPy) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)) using transmission geometry utilizing the high resolution HPGe detector and different radioactive sources in the energy range 81-1333 keV. The experimental linear attenuation coefficient values are compared with theoretical data (WinXCOM data). The linear attenuation coefficient of all polymers reduced quickly with the increase in energy, at the beginning, while decrease more slowly in the region from 267 keV to 835 keV. The effective atomic number of PVDC and PTFE are comparatively higher than the $Z_{eff}$ of the remaining polymers, while PA-6 possesses the lowest effective atomic number. The half value layer results showed that PTFE ($C_2F_4$, highest density) is more effective to attenuate the gamma photons. Also, the theoretical results of macroscopic effective removal cross section for fast neutrons ($\sum_{R}$) were computed to investigate the neutron attenuation characteristics. It is found that the $\sum_{R}$ values of the eight investigated polymers are close and ranged from $0.07058cm^{-1}$ for PVDC to $0.11510cm^{-1}$ for PA-6.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제56권4호
• /
• pp.1330-1338
• /
• 2024

Information on isotopic composition and geometric structure is necessary for identifying a true warhead. Nevertheless, such classified information should be protected physically or electronically. With a novel Hash encryption algorithm, this paper presents a Monte Carlo-based design of a neutron activation analysis verification module. The verification module employs a thermal neutron source, a non-uniform mask (physically encrypting information about isotopic composition and geometric structure), a gamma detector array, and a Hash encryption algorithm (for electronic encryption). In the physical field, a non-uniform mask is designed to distort the characteristic gamma rays emitted by the inspected item. Furthermore, as part of the Hash algorithm, a key is introduced to encrypt the data and improve the system resolution through electronic design. In order to quantify the difference between items, Hamming distance is used, which allows data encryption and analysis simultaneously. Simulated inspections of simple objects are used to quantify system performance. It is demonstrated that the method retains superior resolution even with 1% noise level. And the performances of anti-statistical attack and anti-brute force cracking are evaluated and found to be very excellent. The verification method lays a solid foundation for nuclear disarmament verification in the upcoming era.