Measurement of 14 MeV neutron flux from D-T neutron generator using activation analysis

Abstract

Flux measurement of an accelerator based D-T neutron generator was achieved by the activation technique. The neutron generator can produce maximum neutron yield of 1.9 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">10</sup> n/sec at the Tritium-target. For the measurement of 14 MeV neutron flux, <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">63</sup> Cu(n, 2n) <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">62</sup> Cu and <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">27</sup> Al(n, p) <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">27</sup> Mg reactions are most suitable because of their higher threshold energies 11.03 MeV and 3.25 MeV respectively. Measurement of γ-ray activities from <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">62</sup> Cu and <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">27</sup> Mg is used to measure 14 MeV neutron flux. NaI(Tl) scintillation and High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors were used for the γ-radiation measurement from <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">62</sup> Cu and <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">27</sup> Mg respectively. In this paper the 14 MeV neutron flux measurement by <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">63</sup> Cu and <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">27</sup> Al activation is discussed. The method could also serve as a diagnostics tool for measurement of high-energy neutron flux.