Nondestructive technique for identifying nuclides using neutron resonance transmission analysis at CSNS Back-n

Nondestructive and noninvasive neutron assays are essential applications of neutron techniques.Neutron resonance transmission analysis(NRTA)is a powerful nondestructive method for investigating the elemental composition of an object.The back-streaming neutron line(Back-n)is a newly built time-of-flight facility at the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)that provides neutrons in the eV to 300 MeV range.A feasibility study of the NRTA method for nuclide identification was conducted at the CSNS Back-n via two test experiments.The results demonstrate that it is feasible to identify different elements and isotopes in samples using the NRTA method at Back-n.This study reveals its potential future applications.

Measurement of the ^(232)Th(n,f)cross section in the 1-200 MeV range at the CSNS Back-n

The ^(232)Th(n,f)cross section is very important in basic nuclear physics and applications based on the Th/U fuel cycle.Using the time-of-flight method and a multi-cell fast-fission ionization chamber,a novel measurement of the^(232)Th(n,f)cross sec-tion relative to^(235)U in the 1–200 MeV range was performed at the China Spallation Neutron Source Back-n white neutron source(Back-n).The fission event-neutron energy spectra of^(232)Th and^(235)U fission cells were measured in the single-bunch mode.Corrected 232Th/235U fission cross-sectional ratios were obtained,and the measurement uncertainties were 2.5–3.7%for energies in the 2–20 MeV range and 3.6–6.2%for energies in the 20–200 MeV range.The^(232)Th(n,f)cross section was obtained by introducing the standard cross section of^(235)U(n,f).The results were compared with those of previous theoreti-cal calculations,measurements,and evaluations.The measured 232Th fission cross section agreed with the main evaluation results in terms of the experimental uncertainty,and 232Th fission resonances were observed in the 1–3 MeV range.The present results provide^(232)Th(n,f)cross-sectional data for the evaluation and design of Th/U cycle nuclear systems.

Back-n white neutron source at CSNS and its applications

Back-streaming neutrons from the spallation target of the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)that emit through the incoming proton channel were exploited to build a white neutron beam facility(the so-called Back-n white neutron source),which was completed in March 2018.The Back-n neutron beam is very intense,at approximately 29107 n/cm2/s at 55 m from the target,and has a nominal proton beam with a power of 100 kW in the CSNS-I phase and a kinetic energy of 1.6 GeV and a thick tungsten target in multiple slices with modest moderation from the cooling water through the slices.In addition,the excellent energy spectrum spanning from 0.5 eV to 200 MeV,and a good time resolution related tothe time-of-flight measurements make it a typical white neutron source for nuclear data measurements;its overall performance is among that of the best white neutron sources in the world.Equipped with advanced spectrometers,detectors,and application utilities,the Back-n facility can serve wide applications,with a focus on neutron-induced cross-sectional measurements.This article presents an overview of the neutron beam characteristics,the experimental setups,and the ongoing applications at Backn.

Experimental investigation on the radiation background inside body counters

In vivo measurement of radioactivity based on various body counters is arguably the leading measure used to determine the distribution and activity of radionuclides in human subjects,such as I-131 in the thyroid,Am-241 in the lungs,and Pb-210 in the skull.Throughout the measurements,the radiation background is the key factor that determines the sensitivity of the counter.Therefore,to facilitate in vivo measurements,a well-designed shielding room is required to create a low-background environment.However,because the compositions of the radiation background are quite complicated,the respective contributions from each source remain obscure,which places a considerable burden on seeking an optimized design of shielding rooms that strikes the optimum balance between the construction cost and background suppression effect.In this study,we conducted a systematic experimental investigation on the radiation background outside and inside four representative body counters with assorted designs using a variety of radiation detectors,including high-purity germanium detectors,CdZnTe detector,radon emanometer,and gamma-ray dosimeter.By carefully controlling the experimental conditions and synergetic analysis of the measurement results,in conjunction with previous studies,we separated and determined the relative contributions induced by environmental radiation(4%),airborne radon and its daughters(2%),the normal radioactivity of human subjects arising from K-40(58%),cosmic rays(12%),and radioactivity in shielding materials and measuring instruments(24%).Furthermore,based on these results,we discuss practical guidelines to design a shielding room for body counters.

Beam-beam effects and mitigation in a future proton-proton collider

The beam-beam effects in a hadron collider with an unprecedented energy scale were studied.These effects are strongly related to the attainable luminosity of the collider.Long-range interactions were identified as the major factor limiting the dynamic aperture,which is strongly dependent on the crossing angle,β*,and bunch population.Different mitigation methods of the beam-beam effects were addressed,with a focus on the compensation of long-range interactions by electric curren wires.The CEPC-SPPC project is a two-stage large circular collider,with a first-stage circular electron-positron collider(CEPC)and a second-stage super proton-proton collider(SPPC).The design of the SPPC aims to achieve a center-of-mass energy of 75 TeV and peak luminosity of approximately 1×10^(35) cm^(-2)s^(-1).We studied the beam-beam effects in the SPPC and tested the effectiveness of the mitigation methods.We found that with compensation using electric current wires,the dynamic aperture is at an acceptable level.Moreover,considering the significant emittance damping in this future proton-proton collider the beam-beam effects and compensation are more complicated and are studied using long-term tracking.It was found that with a smaller emittance,the head-on interactions with a crossing angle become more prominent in reducing the beam stability,and combined head-on and long-range compensation is needed to improve the beam quality.When the reduction in population owing to burnoff was included,it was found that the coupling between the transverse and longitudinal planes at smaller emittance is the main driving source of the instabilities.Thus,crab cavities and emittance control are also necessary than just the compensation of the long-range interactions to improve the beam stability.This study serves as an example for studying the beam-beam effects in future proton-proton colliders.

In-beam gamma rays of CSNS Back-n characterized by black resonance filter

The back-streaming white-neutron beamline(Back-n)of the China Spallation Neutron Source is an essential neutronresearch platform built for the study of nuclear data,neutron physics,and neutron applications.Many types of cross-sectional neutron-reaction measurements have been performed at Back-n since early 2018.These measurements have shown that a significant number of gamma rays can be transmitted to the experimental stations of Back-n along with the neutron beam.These gamma rays,commonly referred to as in-beam gamma rays,can induce a non-negligible experimental background in neutron-reaction measurements.Studying the characteristics of in-beam gamma rays is important for understanding the experimental background.However,measuring in-beam gamma rays is challenging because most gamma-ray detectors are sensitive to neutrons;thus,discriminating between neutron-induced signals and those from in-beam gamma rays is difficult.In this study,we propose the use of the black resonance filter method and a CeBr_(3) scintillation detector to measure the characteristics of the in-beam gamma rays of Back-n.Four types of black resonance filters,^(181)Ta,^(59)Co,^(nat)Ag,and^(nat)Cd,were used in this measurement.The time-of-flight(TOF)technique was used to select the detector signals remaining in the absorption region of the TOF spectra,which were mainly induced by in-beam gamma rays.The energy distribution and flux of the in-beam gamma rays of Back-n were determined by analyzing the deposited energy spectra of the CeBr_(3) scintillation detector and using Monte Carlo simulations.Based on the results of this study,the background contributions from in-beam gamma rays in neutron-reaction measurements at Back-n can be reasonably evaluated,which is beneficial for enhancing both the experimental methodology and data analysis.

Fast implementation of kernel simplex volume analysis based on modified Cholesky factorization for endmember extraction

Endmember extraction is a key step in the hyperspectral image analysis process. The kernel new simplex growing algorithm （KNSGA）, recently developed as a nonlinear alternative to the simplex growing algorithm （SGA）, has proven a promising endmember extraction technique. However, KNSGA still suffers from two issues limiting its application. First, its random initialization leads to inconsistency in final results; second, excessive computation is caused by the iterations of a simplex volume calculation. To solve the first issue, the spatial pixel purity index （SPPI） method is used in this study to extract the first endrnember, eliminating the initialization dependence. A novel approach tackles the second issue by initially using a modified Cholesky fac- torization to decompose the volume matrix into triangular matrices, in order to avoid directly computing the determinant tauto- logically in the simplex volume formula. Theoretical analysis and experiments on both simulated and real spectral data demonstrate that the proposed algorithm significantly reduces computational complexity, and runs faster than the original algorithm.