Estimation with Monte Carlo of thermal neutrons in the FANT, using 252Cf and 241Am/9Be neutron source

Lenin E Cevallos-Robalino; Gonzalo García-Fernández; Eduardo Gallego; Hector Rene Vega-Carrillo; Roberto García-Baonza; Orlando Barcia-Ayala; Bremnen Veliz

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110694

Estimation with Monte Carlo of thermal neutrons in the FANT, using ²⁵²Cf and ²⁴¹Am/⁹Be neutron source

Appl Radiat Isot. 2023 Apr:194:110694. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110694. Epub 2023 Jan 25.

Authors

Lenin E Cevallos-Robalino¹, Gonzalo García-Fernández², Eduardo Gallego², Hector Rene Vega-Carrillo³, Roberto García-Baonza², Orlando Barcia-Ayala⁴, Bremnen Veliz⁴

Affiliations

¹ Carrera de Ingeniería Electrónica, Grupo de Investigación en Micro-Nanotecnología y Energía Nuclear, (NANOTECH), Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, C. Robles 107 Chambers, 090108, Guayas, Guayaquil, Ecuador. Electronic address: lcevallos@ups.edu.ec.
² Departmento de Ingeniería Energética, ETSI Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, C. José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
³ Unidad Académica de Estudios Nucleares, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, C. Ciprés, 10, 98060, Zacatecas, Zac, Mexico.
⁴ Carrera de Ingeniería Electrónica, Grupo de Investigación en Micro-Nanotecnología y Energía Nuclear, (NANOTECH), Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, C. Robles 107 Chambers, 090108, Guayas, Guayaquil, Ecuador.

PMID: 36731391
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110694

Abstract

The thermal neutron irradiation device (FANT), developed at the Neutron Measurements Laboratory of the Energy Engineering Department at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, is a high-density polyethylene regular parallelepiped, with a rather uniform neutron fluence inside its irradiation chamber. It uses a Am95241/Be49 neutron source aiming to provide thermal neutron fluence rates. Neutron spectra and neutron fluences were estimated with Monte Carlo methods in the FANT irradiation chamber when a Cf98252 neutron source is used and were compared with the results obtained with the Am95241/Be49 source. Regardless of the neutron source, the largest contribution is due to thermal neutrons, producing also epithermal and fast neutrons. Per neutron emitted by the source, the use of Cf98252 produces a larger amount of neutrons.

Keywords: FANT; Monte Carlo; Neutron spectra.