Design and Manufacture an Elastic Neutron Scattering Spectrometer at the Dalat Nuclear Reactor

The objective of this study is to design an elastic neutron scattering system according to the angle with a sample using thermal neutron beam at the Dalat Nuclear Reactor (DNR). The system is used for research and training in the field of material structure analysis by neutron scattering and diffraction techniques. It is designed on the basis of inheriting the neutron measurement spectrometer systems at the DNR and the scattered neutron measurement systems in the world. The measuring system, which was installed at the horizontal channel 4 of the DNR, consists of 5-helium-3 detectors and a fully electronic system to record the scatter counts and a mechanical system with the possibility of rotating at 15˚-75˚ angles. The constructed system is tested for evaluation of the accuracy, stability and reliability of the mechanical and electronic systems of moving detectors by angles.

Development of 24 and 59 keV Filtered Neutron Beams for Neutron Capture Experiments at Dalat Research Reactor

External filtered neutron beams have been developed at the horizontal radial channels No. 4 of Dalat research reactor. In the material composition of the neutron filters, the primary material components of Iron, Aluminum, Nickel and Vanadium are used to obtain the mono-energetic neutron beams of 24 and 59 keV, with low level of Gamma and slow neutron background. A computer code and Monte-Carlo simulation technique were applied to optimize the filter configurations and to deduce the neutron energy distributions in the filtered beams. A hydrogen-filled proton recoil detector and the activation method with Gold foils were used to measure the neutron energy spectrum and flux of each beam at sample position. The results of experimental neutron fluxes are 6.1 × 105 and 5.3 × 105 n/cm2/s for 24 and 59 keV beams, respectively.

Characteristics of Filtered Neutron Beam Energy Spectra at Dalat Reactor

Filtered neutron technique was applied for producing quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams of 24 keV, 54 keV, 133 keV and 148 keV at the horizontal neutron channel No. 4 of the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor. The study on physical characteristics of these beam lines has been carried out for efficient applications in neutron capture experiments. The filtered neutron spectrum of each beam has been simulated by Monte-Carlo method and experimentally measured by a gas-filled protonrecoil spectrometer. The neutron fluxes of these filtered beams were measured by the activation technique with standard foils of 197Au, using a high efficient HPGe digital gamma-ray spectrometer.