The comparison of four neutron sources for Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) in vivo detections of boron

J G Fantidis; G E Nicolaou; C Potolias; N Vordos; D V Bandekas

doi:10.1007/s10967-011-1315-4

The comparison of four neutron sources for Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) in vivo detections of boron

J Radioanal Nucl Chem. 2011;290(2):289-295. doi: 10.1007/s10967-011-1315-4. Epub 2011 Jul 17.

Authors

J G Fantidis¹, G E Nicolaou², C Potolias¹, N Vordos¹, D V Bandekas¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical Engineering, Kavala Institute of Technology, Kavala, Greece.
² Laboratory of Nuclear Technology, School of Engineering, 'Democritus' University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece.

Abstract

A Prompt Gamma Ray Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) system, incorporating an isotopic neutron source has been simulated using the MCNPX Monte Carlo code. In order to improve the signal to noise ratio different collimators and a filter were placed between the neutron source and the object. The effect of the positioning of the neutron beam and the detector relative to the object has been studied. In this work the optimisation procedure is demonstrated for boron. Monte Carlo calculations were carried out to compare the performance of the proposed PGNAA system using four different neutron sources (²⁴¹Am/Be, ²⁵²Cf, ²⁴¹Am/B, and DT neutron generator). Among the different systems the ²⁵²Cf neutron based PGNAA system has the best performance.

Keywords: Gamma radioactivity; Monte Carlo simulations; PGNAA.