An in-situ analysis and measurement of thorium-234,uranium isotopes in seawater

A low-level β counting-or spectrum apparatus used for the detection of the β radiation of thorium-234 and α spectrum of thorium- 228 simultaneously and an easy operating procedure for the enrichment, radiochemical separating, sampling and measurement of thorium-234 and uranium-238 in the ocean are developed based on the requirements of analyzing export productivity in the eupho- ric zone via thorium-234 - uranium-238 radioactivity disequilibrium. The detecting efficiency both of 13 and α radiation is higher than 20%. The background of βradiation is less than 0. 5 min ^-1 , and the energy resolution of ct detector is better than 1%. Total recycle ratio of thorium-234 is about 75%. Using the above apparatus and procedure, the radioactivities of dissolved thorium-234 and uranium-238, particle thorium-234 and uranium-238 in seawater of the South China Sea, the Southern Ocean and the Arctic Ocean were analyzed.

Development of Prototype Neutron Flux Monitor for ITER

The prototype neutron flux monitor consists of a high purity ^(235)U fission chamber detector and a'blank'detector,which is a fissile material free detector with the same dimension as the fission chamber detector to identify noise issues such as noise coming from gamma rays.The main parameters of the fission chamber assembly that have been measured in the laboratory are confirmed to approach the technological level of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor(ITER)in the near future.This prototype neutron flux monitor will be further developed to become a neutron flux monitor suitable for the operation phase of D-D fusion on the ITER.

Fusion Neutron Flux Monitor for ITER

Neutron flux monitor （NFM） as an important diagnostic sub-system in ITER （international thermonuclear experimental reactor） provides a global neutron source intensity, fusion power and neutron flux in real time. Three types of neutron flux monitor assemblies with different sensitivities and shielding materials have been designed. Through MCNP （Mante-Carlo neutral particle transport code） calculations, this extended system of NFM can detect the neutron flux in a range of 10^4 n/（cm^2.s） to 10^14 n/（cm^2.s）. It is capable of providing accurate neutron yield measurements for all operational modes encountered in the ITER experiments including the in-situ calibration. Combining both the counting mode and Campbelling （MSV; Mean Square Voltage） mode in the signal processing units, the requirement of the dynamic range （107） for these NFMs and time resolution （1 ms） can be met. Based on a uncertainty analysis, the estimated absolute measurement accuracies of the total fusion neutron yield can reach the required 10% level in both the early stage of the DD-phase and the DD-phase, the absolute measurement accuracy full power DT operation mode. In the advanced would be better than 20%.

Fusion Neutron Flux Detector for the ITER

Two fission chambers with different amounts of fissile material （enriched 90% uranium-235） have been manufactured for neutron flux detection in a thermonuclear fusion device. The characteristics of neutron signal and its discrimination from other signals, and a plateau of high voltage between the anode and cathode have been validated in a thermal neutron source. The energy responses of the two fission chambers at seven energy levels have been calibrated in an accelerator fast neutron source and the results agree well with the simulations.

Design and construction of the first prototype ionization chamber for CSNS and PA beam loss monitor (BLM) system

Design and construction of the first prototype ionization chamber for CSNS and Proton Accelerator （PA） beam loss monitor （BLM） system is reported. The low leakage current （〈0.1 pA）, good plateau （≈800 V） and linearity range up to 200 Roentgen/h are obtained in the first prototype. All of these give us good experience for further improving the ionization chamber construction.

Study of the THGEM detector with a reflective CsI photocathode

The THGEM detector without and with a CsI has been tested successfully. The optimal parameters of THGEM have been determined from eight samples. The UV photoelectric effect of the CsI photocathode is observed. The changing tendency related to the extraction efficiency （εextr） versus the extraction electric field is measured, and several electric fields influencing the anode current are adjusted to adapt to the THGEM detector with a reflective CsI photocathode.

Thermal experiment of silicon PIN detector

The experiment of this paper is the thermal test of the leakage current of silicon PIN detector. Raising temperature may cause the detector to increase leakage current, decrease depletion and increase noise. Three samples are used in the experiment. One （called △E） is the sample of 100 μm in thickness. The other two （called E1 and E2） are stacks of five detectors of 1000 μm in thickness. All of them are 12 mm in diameter. The experiment has been done for 21 hours and with power on continuously. The samples have undergone more than 60 ℃ for about one hour. They are not degenerated when back to the room temperature. The depletion rate is temperature and bias voltage related. With the circuit of the experiment and temperature at 35 ℃, △E is still depleted while E1 and E2 are 94.9% and 99.7% depleted respectively. The noises of the samples can be derived from the values at room temperature and the thermal dependence of the leakage currents. With the addition of the noise of the pre-amplifier, the noises of E1, E2 and △E at 24 ℃ are 16.4, 16.3, and 10.5 keV （FWHM） respectively while at 35 ℃ are about 33.6, 33.1, and 20.6 keV （FWHM） respectively.

Improved design and construction of an ionization chamber for the CSNS beam loss monitor (BLM)

Based on the first ionization chamber （IC） prototype, the structure, working gas component and electrode material of the IC are improved. The test of the improved IC shows that the plateau length is about 2000 V, the plateau slope is less than 0.2%/100 V, the sensitivity is 19.6 pA/rad·h 1, the up-limitation of the linearity can be up to 3.6×105 rad/h, and the applied voltage can be operated to 3500 V. The test results show that the performance of the improved IC meets the requirements of the beam loss monitor.