Characteristics of the Neutron Irradiation Facilities of the PSI Calibration Laboratory

Abstract

The neutron radiation fields of the Calibration Laboratory at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) are traceable to the national standards of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany. A Berthold LB6411 neutron dose rate meter for neutron radiation is used as a secondary standard. Recently, a thorough characterization of the neutron irradiation fields of the 241 Am-Be and 252 Cf sources by means of reference measurements and a detailed MCNPX simulation of the irradiation facility has been initiated. In this work, the characteristics of the neutron radiation fields are summarized and presented together with model equations and an uncertainty analysis. MCNPX results are shown for the 241 Am-Be source. A comparison of measured and simulated data shows an excellent agreement. From the simulation, valuable information about the neutron fields like the contribution of scattered neutrons in the fields and the energy spectra could be obtained.