Comparison and research on the GRAVEL and PRIP algorithms of neutron energy spectrum unfolding

Objective Neutron energy spectrum unfolding is a key technique for neutron detection.It is essentially an inversion problem.The GRAVEL algorithm has been widely used in this field,and the PRIP algorithm transforms neutron energy spectrum unfolding into a typical nonnegative linear complementarity problem and solves it by interior point algorithm for potential reduction.Methods These two algorithms are applied to unfold several different neutron energy test spectra and actual D-T fusion neutron energy spectrum.Results and Conclusion By comparison,it can be concluded that the PRIP algorithm is highly computationally efficient and fast converging,and the GRAVEL algorithm solution results match up more with the expected results.

Research on perturbation of neutron fluence rate in a closed thermal neutron field due to medium materials

The neutron radiation field has vital applications in areas such as biomedicine,geology,radiation safety,and many others for neutron detection and neutron metrology.Correcting neutron fluence rate perturbation accurately is an important yet challenging problem.This study proposes a correction method that analyzes three physical processes.This method,which transforms the detection process from point detection to area detection,is based on a novel physical model and has been validated through theoretical analyses,experiments,and simulations.According to the average differences between the calculated and experimental results,the new method(1.67%)demonstrated better accuracy than the traditional simulation(2.17%).In a closed thermal neutron radiation field,the detector or strong neutron absorption material significantly perturbs the neutron fluence rate,whereas its impact on the energy spectrum shape and neutron directionality is relatively minor.Furthermore,based on the calculation results of the perturbation rate formula for medium materials with different compositions and sizes,the larger the volume and capture cross section of the medium,the higher the perturbation rate generated in the closed radiation field.

Measurements of neutron energy spectra of 9Be(d,n)10B reaction with a thick beryllium target

Novel measurements of the neutron energy spectra of the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction with a thick beryllium target are performed using a fast neutron time-of-flight(TOF)spectrometer for the neutron emission angles θ=0°and 45°,and the incident deuteron energies are 250 and 300 keV,respectively.The neutron contributions from the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction are distributed relatively independently for the ground state and the first,second,and third excited states of 10B.The branching ratios of the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction for the different excited states of 10B are obtained for the neutron emission angles θ=0°and 45°,and the incident deuteron energies are 250 and 300 keV,respectively.The branching ratio of the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction for the third excited state decreases with increase in the incident deuteron energy,and the branching ratios for the ground state and the second excited state increase with increase in the neutron emission angle.

Study of an unfolding algorithm for D-T neutron energy spectra measurement using a recoil proton method

A proton recoil method for measuring D-T neutron energy spectra using polyethylene film and a Si（Au）surface barrier detector is presented. An iteration algorithm for unfolding the recoil proton energy spectrum to the neutron energy spectrum is investigated. The response matrices R of the polyethylene film at angles of 0o and45o were obtained by simulating the recoil proton energy spectra from mono-energetic neutrons using the MCNPX code. With an assumed D-T neutron spectrum, the recoil proton spectra from the polyethylene film at angles of 0oand 45owere also simulated using the MCNPX code. Based on the response matrices R and the simulated recoil proton spectra at 0oand 45o, the respective unfolded neutron spectra were obtained using the iteration algorithm,and compared with the assumed neutron spectrum. The results show that the iteration algorithm method can be applied to unfold the recoil proton energy spectrum to the neutron energy spectrum for D-T neutron energy spectra measurement using the recoil proton method.

Study of n-γ discrimination for 0.4-1 MeV neutrons using the zero-crossing method with a BC501A liquid scintillation detector

An experimental system aimed at n-γ discrimination using the zero-crossing method with a φ3’’×2’’ BC501A liquid scintillation detector was established and tested with an Am-Be neutron source. Two-dimensional plots of energy versus zero-crossing time were obtained. The quality of n-γ discrimination was checked by the figure-of-merit （FOM）, the neutron peak-to-valley ratio, and the proportion of leaked neutrons over all neutron events. The performance of n-γ discrimination in terms of FOM was compared with previous work done by other groups. The n-γ discrimination in four different energy regions with an interval of 0.1 MeV between 0.3 MeV and 0.7 MeV was studied, and the results indicate that the n-γ discrimination threshold can go down to 0.4 MeV.