Development of the real-time double-ring fusion neutron time-of-flight spectrometer system at HL-2M

A real-time double-ring neutron time-of-flight(TOFII) spectrometer system has been proposed to achieve plasma diagnosis on HL-2M tokamak with a relatively high count rate and sufficient energy resolution.The TOFII system is in its development stage,and this work describes its characteristics in terms of design principle,system structure,electronic system design,preliminary tests,and neutron transport simulation.The preliminary test results illustrate that the TOFII system can demonstrate the realtime dynamic spectrum every 10 ms.The results also show that based on the support vector machine method,the n-γ discrimination algorithm achieves the discrimination accuracy of 99.1%with a figure of merit of 1.30,and the intrinsic timing resolution of the system is within 0.3%.The simulated flight time spectrums from 1 to 5 MeV are obtained through the Monte Carlo tool Geant4,which also provide the reasonable results.The TOFII system will then be calibrated on mono-energetic neutron sources for further verification.

The Design and Optimization of a Neutron Time-of-Flight Spectrometer with Double Scintillators for Neutron Diagnostics on EAST

Neutron energy spectrometry diagnosis plays an important role in magnetic con- finement fusion. A new neutron time-of-flight （TOF） spectrometer with double scintillators is designed and optimized for the EAST toknmak. A set of optimM parameters is obtained by Monte Carlo simulation, based on the GEANT4 and ROOT codes. The electronic setup of the measurement system is designed. The count rate capability is increased by introducing a flash ADC. The designed spectrometer with high resolution and efficiency is capable of being applied to fusion neutron diagnostics. Applications in mixed-energy and continuous energy neutron fields can also be considered.

Neutron time-of-flight spectrometer based on HIRFL for studies of spallation reactions related to ADS project

A Neutron Time-of-Flight(NTOF) spectrometer, based at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou(HIRFL) was developed for studies of neutron production of proton induced spallation reactions related to the ADS project. After the presentation of comparisons between calculated spallation neutron production doubledifferential cross sections and the available experimental data, a detailed description of the NTOF spectrometer is given. Test beam results show that the spectrometer works well and data analysis procedures are established.The comparisons of the test beam neutron spectra with those of GEANT4 simulations are presented.

Benchmark experiment on slab^(238)U with D-T neutrons for validation of evaluated nuclear data

A benchmark experiment on^(238)U slab samples was conducted using a deuterium-tritium neutron source at the China Institute of Atomic Energy.The leakage neutron spectra within energy levels of 0.8-16 MeV at 60°and 120°were measured using the time-of-flight method.The samples were prepared as rectangular slabs with a 30 cm square base and thicknesses of 3,6,and 9 cm.The leakage neutron spectra were also calculated using the MCNP-4C program based on the latest evaluated files of^(238)U evaluated neutron data from CENDL-3.2,ENDF/B-Ⅷ.0,JENDL-5.0,and JEFF-3.3.Based on the comparison,the deficiencies and improvements in^(238)U evaluated nuclear data were analyzed.The results showed the following.(1)The calculated results for CENDL-3.2 significantly overestimated the measurements in the energy interval of elastic scattering at 60°and 120°.(2)The calculated results of CENDL-3.2 overestimated the measurements in the energy interval of inelastic scattering at 120°.(3)The calculated results for CENDL-3.2 significantly overestimated the measurements in the 3-8.5 MeV energy interval at 60°and 120°.(4)The calculated results with JENDL-5.0 were generally consistent with the measurement results.

Developing time-of-flight polarized neutron capability at the China Spallation Neutron Source

Polarized neutrons play an indispensable role in neutron scattering research and have been incorporated into various neutron diffractometers and spectrometers. Recognizing the importance of polarized neutrons, the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS) has dedicated resources for developing its own capabilities for polarized neutron techniques. Hence, a polarized neutron development platform was allocated to the BL-20 beam port at CSNS for the purpose of facilitating new technological developments and calibration of instruments. Here, we report the progress we have made in terms of using the established development platform at BL-20, including the characterization of neutron spin filter cells manufactured at CSNS, the calibration of self-developed polarized neutron instruments, performance of the polarized neutron technique applied to beamlines,and associated simulation work for beamline magnetic field environments. These results demonstrate the capability of the CSNS to develop time-of-flight polarized neutron instruments and techniques in-house, which will be incorporated into the construction of CSNS neutron beamlines.

FPGA-based position reconstruction method for neutron beam flux spatial distribution measurement in BNCT

A new measurement method for the spatial distribution of neutron beam flux in boron neutron capture therapy(BNCT)is being developed based on the two-dimensional Micromegas detector.To address the issue of long processing times in traditional offline position reconstruction methods,this paper proposes a field programmable gate array based online position reconstruction method utilizing the micro-time projection chamber principle.This method encapsulates key technical aspects:a self-adaptive serial link technique built upon the dynamical adjustment of the delay chain length,fast sorting,a coordinate-matching technique based on the mapping between signal timestamps and random access memory(RAM)addresses,and a precise start point-merging technique utilizing a circular combined RAM.The performance test of the selfadaptive serial link shows that the bit error rate of the link is better than 10-12 at a confidence level of 99%,ensuring reliable data transmission.The experiment utilizing the readout electronics and Micromegas detector shows a spatial resolution of approximately 1.4 mm,surpassing the current method’s resolution level of 5 mm.The beam experiment confirms that the readout electronics system can obtain the flux spatial distribution of neutron beams online,thus validating the feasibility of the position reconstruction method.The online position reconstruction method avoids traditional methods,such as bubble sorting and traversal searching,simplifies the design of the logic firmware,and reduces the time complexity from O(n2)to O(n).This study contributes to the advancement in measuring neutron beam flux for BNCT.

Microstructures and micromechanical behaviors of high -entropy alloys investigated by synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques: A review

High-entropy alloys(HEAs)possess outstanding features such as corrosion resistance,irradiation resistance,and good mechan-ical properties.A few HEAs have found applications in the fields of aerospace and defense.Extensive studies on the deformation mech-anisms of HEAs can guide microstructure control and toughness design,which is vital for understanding and studying state-of-the-art structural materials.Synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction are necessary techniques for materials science research,especially for in situ coupling of physical/chemical fields and for resolving macro/microcrystallographic information on materials.Recently,several re-searchers have applied synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction methods to study the deformation mechanisms,phase transformations,stress behaviors,and in situ processes of HEAs,such as variable-temperature,high-pressure,and hydrogenation processes.In this review,the principles and development of synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction are presented,and their applications in the deformation mechanisms of HEAs are discussed.The factors that influence the deformation mechanisms of HEAs are also outlined.This review fo-cuses on the microstructures and micromechanical behaviors during tension/compression or creep/fatigue deformation and the application of synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction methods to the characterization of dislocations,stacking faults,twins,phases,and intergrain/interphase stress changes.Perspectives on future developments of synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction and on research directions on the deformation mechanisms of novel metals are discussed.

High-resolution neutronics model for ^(238)Pu production in high-flux reactors

We proposed and compared three methods(filter burnup,single energy burnup,and burnup extremum analysis)to build a high-resolution neutronics model for 238Pu production in high-flux reactors.The filter burnup and single energy burnup methods have no theoretical approximation and can achieve a spectrum resolution of up to~1 eV,thereby constructing the importance curve and yield curve of the full energy range.The burnup extreme analysis method combines the importance and yield curves to consider the influence of irradiation time on production efficiency,thereby constructing extreme curves.The three curves,which quantify the transmutation rate of the nuclei in each energy region,are of physical significance because they have similar distributions.A high-resolution neutronics model for ^(238)Pu production was established based on these three curves,and its universality and feasibility were proven.The neutronics model can guide the neutron spectrum optimization and improve the yield of ^(238)Pu by up to 18.81%.The neutronics model revealed the law of nuclei transmutation in all energy regions with high spectrum resolution,thus providing theoretical support for high-flux reactor design and irradiation production of ^(238)Pu.

Measurement of the neutron-induced total cross sections of ^(nat)Pb from 0.3 eV to 20 MeV on the Back-n at CSNS

The neutron-induced total cross sections of natural lead have been measured in a wide energy range(0.3 eV-20 MeV)on the back-streaming white neutron beamline(Back-n)at the China Spallation Neutron Source.Neutron energy was determined by the neutron total cross-section spectrometer using the time-of-flight technique.A fast multi-cell fission chamber was used as the neutron detector,and a 10-mm-thick high-purity natural lead sample was employed for the neutron transmission measurements.The on-beam background was determined using Co,In,Ag,and Cd filters.The excitation function of ^(nat)Pb(n,tot)reaction below 20 MeV was calculated using the TALYS-1.96 nuclear-reaction modeling program.The present results were compared with previous results,the evaluated data available in the five major evaluated nuclear data libraries(i.e.,ENDF/B-VIII.0,JEFF-3.3,JENDL-5,CENDL-3.2,and BROND-3.1),and the theoretical calculation curve.Good agreement was found between the new results and those of previous experiments and with the theoretical curves in the corresponding region.This measurement obtained the neutron total cross section of natural lead with good accuracy over a wide energy range and added experimental data in the resonance energy range.This provides more reliable experimental data for nuclear engineering design and nuclear data evaluation of lead.

Cross section determination of^(27)Al(n,2n)^(26)Al reaction induced by 14-MeV neutrons uniting with D-T neutron activation and AMS techniques

Aluminum is the primary structural material in nuclear engineering,and its cross section induced by 14-MeV neutrons is of great significance.To address the issue of insufficient accuracy for the^(27)Al(n,2n)^(26)Al reaction cross section,the activation method and accelerator mass spectrometry(AMS)technique were used to determine the^(27)Al(n,2n)^(26)Al cross section,which could be used as a D-T plasma ion temperature monitor in fusion reactors.At the China Academy of Engineering Physics,neutron activation was performed using a K-400 neutron generator produced by the T(d,n)4He reaction.The^(26)Al∕^(27)Al isotope ratios were measured using the newly installed GYIG 1 MV AMS at the Institute of Geochemistry,Chinese Academy of Sciences.The neutron flux was monitored by measuring the activity of 92mNb produced by the 93Nb(n,2n)92mNb reaction.The measured results were compared with available data in the experimental nuclear reaction database,and the measured values showed a reasonable degree of consistency with partially available literature data.The newly acquired cross-sectional data at 12 neutron energy points through systematic measurements clarified the divergence,which has two different growth trends from the existing experimental values.The obtained results are also compared with the corresponding evaluated database,and the newly calculated excitation functions with TALYS−1.95 and EMPIRE−3.2 codes,the agreement with CENDL−3.2,TENDL-2021 and EMPIRE−3.2 results are generally acceptable.A substantial improvement in the knowledge of the^(27)Al(n,2n)^(26)Al reaction excitation function was obtained in the present work,which will lay the foundation for the diagnosis of the fusion ion temperature,testing of the nuclear physics model,evaluation of nuclear data,etc.

Study of the response of 10B-doped MCP to wide-energy range neutrons from eV to MeV

Neutron-sensitive microchannel plates(nMCPs)have applications in neutron detection,including energy spectrum measurements,neutron-induced cross sections,and neutron imaging.10B-doped MCPs(B-MCPs)have attracted significant attention owing to their potential for exhibiting a high neutron detection efficiency over a large neutron energy range.Good spatial and temporal resolutions are useful for neutron energy-resolved imaging.However,their practical applications still face many technical challenges.In this study,a B-MCP with 10 mol%10B was tested for its response to wide-energy neutrons from eV to MeV at the Back-n white neutron source at the China Spallation Neutron Source.The neutron detection efficiency was calibrated at 1 eV,which is approximately 300 times that of an ordinary MCP and indicates the success of 10 B doping.The factors that caused the reduction in the detection efficiency were simulated and discussed.The neutron energy spectrum obtained using B-MCP was compared with that obtained by other measurement methods,and showed very good consistency for neutron energies below tens of keV.The response is more complicated at higher neutron energy,at which point the elastic and nonelastic reactions of all nuclides of B-MCP gradually become dominant.This is beneficial for the detection of neutrons,as it compensates for the detection efficiency of B-MCP for high-energy neutrons.

Performance optimization of the neutron-sensitive image intensifier used in neutron imaging

As a non-destructive testing technology,neutron imaging plays an important role in various fields,including material science,nuclear engineering,and fundamental science.An imaging detector with a neutron-sensitive image intensifier has been developed and demonstrated to achieve good spatial resolution and timing resolution.However,the influence of the working voltage on the performance of the neutron-sensitive imaging intensifier has not been studied.To optimize the performance of the neutron-sensitive image intensifier at different voltages,experiments have been performed at the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)neutron beamline.The change in the light yield and imaging quality with different voltages has been acquired.It is shown that the image quality benefits from the high gain of the microchannel plate(MCP)and the high accelerating electric field between the MCP and the screen.Increasing the accelerating electric field is more effective than increasing the gain of MCPs for the improvement of the imaging quality.Increasing the total gain of the MCP stack can be realized more effectively by improving the gain of the standard MCP than that of the n MCP.These results offer a development direction for image intensifiers in the future.

Design and implementation of the monochromator shielding for the cold neutron spectrometers XINGZHI and BOYA

An innovative monochromator shielding is designed and implemented for the cold neutron spectrometers XINGZHI and BOYA operated by Renmin University of China at China Advanced Research Reactor.Via Monte Carlo simulations and careful mechanical designs,a shielding configuration has been successfully developed to satisfy safety requirements of below 3μSv/h dose rate at its exterior,meanwhile fulfilling space,floor load and nonmagnetic requirements.Composite materials are utilized to form the sandwich-type shielding walls:the inner layer of boron carbide rubber,the middle layer of steel-encased lead and the outer layer of borated polyethylene.Special-shaped liftable shielding blocks are incorporated to facilitate a continuous adjustment of the neutron energy while preventing radiation leakage.Our work has demonstrated that by utilizing composite shielding materials,along with the sandwich structure and liftable shielding blocks,a compact and lightweight shielding solution can be achieved.This enables the realization of advanced neutron scattering instruments that provide expanded space of measurement,larger energy and momentum coverage,and higher flux on the sample.This shielding represents the first of its kind in neutron scattering instruments in China.Following its successful operation,it has been subsequently employed by other neutron instruments across the country.

10B-doped MCP detector developed for neutron resonance imaging at Back-n white neutron source

Neutron resonance imaging(NRI)has recently emerged as an appealing technique for neutron radiography.Its complexity surpasses that of conventional transmission imaging,as it requires a high demand for both a neutron source and detector.Consequently,the progression of NRI technology has been sluggish since its inception in the 1980s,particularly considering the limited studies analyzing the neutron energy range above keV.The white neutron source(Back-n)at the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)provides favorable beam conditions for the development of the NRI technique over a wide neutron energy range from eV to MeV.Neutron-sensitive microchannel plates(MCP)have emerged as a cutting-edge tool in the field of neutron detection owing to their high temporal and spatial resolutions,high detection efficiency,and low noise.In this study,we report the development of a 10B-doped MCP detector,along with its associated electronics,data processing system,and NRI experiments at the Back-n.Individual heavy elements such as gold,silver,tungsten,and indium can be easily identified in the transmission images by their characteristic resonance peaks in the 1–100 eV energy range;the more difficult medium-weight elements such as iron,copper,and aluminum with resonance peaks in the 1–100 keV energy range can also be identified.In particular,results in the neutron energy range of dozens of keV(Aluminum)are reported here for the first time.

Neutron irradiation influence on high-power thyristor device under fusion environment

Because of their economy and applicability,high-power thyristor devices are widely used in the power supply systems for large fusion devices.When high-dose neutrons produced by deuterium–tritium(D–T)fusion reactions are irradiated on a thyristor device for a long time,the electrical characteristics of the device change,which may eventually cause irreversible damage.In this study,with the thyristor switch of the commutation circuit in the quench protection system(QPS)of a fusion device as the study object,the relationship between the internal physical structure and external electrical parameters of the irradiated thyristor is established.Subsequently,a series of targeted thyristor physical simulations and neutron irradiation experiments are conducted to verify the accuracy of the theoretical analysis.In addition,the effect of irradiated thyristor electrical characteristic changes on the entire QPS is studied by accurate simulation,providing valuable guidelines for the maintenance and renovation of the QPS.

An efficient parallel algorithm of variational nodal method for heterogeneous neutron transport problems

The heterogeneous variational nodal method(HVNM)has emerged as a potential approach for solving high-fidelity neutron transport problems.However,achieving accurate results with HVNM in large-scale problems using high-fidelity models has been challenging due to the prohibitive computational costs.This paper presents an efficient parallel algorithm tailored for HVNM based on the Message Passing Interface standard.The algorithm evenly distributes the response matrix sets among processors during the matrix formation process,thus enabling independent construction without communication.Once the formation tasks are completed,a collective operation merges and shares the matrix sets among the processors.For the solution process,the problem domain is decomposed into subdomains assigned to specific processors,and the red-black Gauss-Seidel iteration is employed within each subdomain to solve the response matrix equation.Point-to-point communication is conducted between adjacent subdomains to exchange data along the boundaries.The accuracy and efficiency of the parallel algorithm are verified using the KAIST and JRR-3 test cases.Numerical results obtained with multiple processors agree well with those obtained from Monte Carlo calculations.The parallelization of HVNM results in eigenvalue errors of 31 pcm/-90 pcm and fission rate RMS errors of 1.22%/0.66%,respectively,for the 3D KAIST problem and the 3D JRR-3 problem.In addition,the parallel algorithm significantly reduces computation time,with an efficiency of 68.51% using 36 processors in the KAIST problem and 77.14% using 144 processors in the JRR-3 problem.

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.

Isotopic dependence of the yield ratios of light fragments from different projectiles and their unified neutron skin thicknesses

The yield ratios of neutron-proton(R(n/p))and^(3)H-^(3)He(R(^(3)H∕^(3)He))with reduced rapidity from 0 to 0.5 were simulated at 50 MeV/u even-even ^(36−56)Ca+^(40)Ca,even-even ^(48−78)Ni+^(58)Ni,and ^(100−139)Sn(every third isotopes)+112 Sn for full reduced impact parameters using the isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics(IQMD)model.The neutron and proton density distributions and root-mean-square radii of the reaction systems were obtained using the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock model,which was used for the phase space initialization of the projectile and target in IQMD.We defined the unified neutron skin thickness asΔRnp=<r^(2)>^(1∕2) n−<r^(2)>^(1∕2)p,which was negative for neutron-deficient nuclei.The unifiedΔRnp values for nuclei with the same relative neutron excess from different isotopic chains were nearly equal,except for extreme neutron-rich isotopes,which is a type of scaling behavior.The yield ratios of the three isotopic chain-induced reactions,which depended on the reduced impact parameter and unified neutron skin thickness,were studied.The results showed that both R(n/p)and R(^(3)H∕^(3)He)decreased with a reduced impact parameter for extreme neutron-deficient isotopes;however,they increased with reduced impact parameters for extreme neutron-rich isotopes,and increased with theΔRnp of the projectiles for all reduced impact parameters.In addition,a scaling phenomenon was observed betweenΔR np and the yield ratios in peripheral colli-sions from different isotopic chain projectiles(except for extreme neutron-rich isotopes).Thus,R(n/p)and R(^(3)H∕^(3)He)from peripheral collisions were suggested as experimental probes for extracting the neutron or proton skin thicknesses of non-extreme neutron-rich nuclei from different isotopic chains.

Detecting short-term gravitational waves from post-merger hyper-massive neutron stars with a kilohertz detector

Gravitational waves emanating from binary neutron star inspirals,alongside electromagnetic transients resulting from the aftermath of the GW170817 merger,have been successfully detected.However,the intricate post-merger dynamics that bridge these two sets of observables remain enigmatic.This includes if,and when,the post-merger remnant star collapses to a black hole,and what are the necessary conditions to power a short gamma-ray burst,and other observed electromagnetic counterparts.Our focus is on the detection of gravitational wave(GW)emissions from hyper-massive neutron stars(NSs)formed through binary neutron star(BNS)mergers.Utilizing several kilohertz GW detectors,we simulate BNS mergers within the detection limits of LIGO-Virgo-KARGA O4.Our objective is to ascertain the fraction of simulated sources that may emit detectable post-merger GW signals.For kilohertz detectors equipped with a new cavity design,we estimate that approximately 1.1%-32%of sources would emit a detectable post-merger GW signal.This fraction is contingent on the mass converted into gravitational wave energy,ranging from 0.01M_(sun)to 0.1M_(sun).Furthermore,by evaluating other well-regarded proposed kilohertz GW detectors,we anticipate that the fraction can increase to as much as 2.1%-61%under optimal performance conditions.

Sparse-view neutron CT 3D image reconstruction algorithm based on split Bregman method

As a complement to X-ray computed tomography(CT),neutron tomography has been extensively used in nuclear engineer-ing,materials science,cultural heritage,and industrial applications.Reconstruction of the attenuation matrix for neutron tomography with a traditional analytical algorithm requires hundreds of projection views in the range of 0°to 180°and typically takes several hours to complete.Such a low time-resolved resolution degrades the quality of neutron imaging.Decreasing the number of projection acquisitions is an important approach to improve the time resolution of images;however,this requires efficient reconstruction algorithms.Therefore,sparse-view reconstruction algorithms in neutron tomography need to be investigated.In this study,we investigated the three-dimensional reconstruction algorithm for sparse-view neu-tron CT scans.To enhance the reconstructed image quality of neutron CT,we propose an algorithm that uses OS-SART to reconstruct images and a split Bregman to solve for the total variation(SBTV).A comparative analysis of the performances of each reconstruction algorithm was performed using simulated and actual experimental data.According to the analyzed results,OS-SART-SBTV is superior to the other algorithms in terms of denoising,suppressing artifacts,and preserving detailed structural information of images.