Feasibility study of on-line monitoring gadolinium based on neutron induced gamma activation

Yongji Xie; Can Cheng; Wei Zhang; Xin Wang; Wenchao Qin; Weirong Liu; Shuang Lin; Pengfei Xiao; Zhiqiang Wu; Wenbao Jia

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110817

Feasibility study of on-line monitoring gadolinium based on neutron induced gamma activation

Appl Radiat Isot. 2023 Jul:197:110817. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110817. Epub 2023 Apr 11.

Authors

Yongji Xie¹, Can Cheng², Wei Zhang¹, Xin Wang¹, Wenchao Qin¹, Weirong Liu¹, Shuang Lin¹, Pengfei Xiao¹, Zhiqiang Wu¹, Wenbao Jia³

Affiliations

¹ China Nuclear Power Engineering Co.,Ltd., Beijing, 100840, China.
² Institute of Nuclear Analytical Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 211106, China. Electronic address: cheng_can@nuaa.edu.cn.
³ Institute of Nuclear Analytical Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 211106, China.

PMID: 37060678
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110817

Abstract

Gadolinium is a soluble neutron poison for ensuring criticality safety of nuclear facility. A neutron induced gamma activation device was developed for the on-line measurement of gadolinium. The experimental device consisted of an ²⁴¹Am-Be neutron source, six ³He detectors and a liquid scintillation detector. The size of sample container was optimized by using Monte Carlo simulations. Aqueous sample containing gadolinium nitrate were conducted with the device to obtain the calibration curve, and neutron self-shielding effect was also studied to correct the non-linear response. The results showed the minimum detectable concentration (MDC) of gadolinium was 0.426 mg/L. Two test samples were conducted to evaluate the performance of the device. The results demonstrated that the discrepancies were within 10%, which indicate the developed system can be successfully used for on-line monitoring of gadolinium.

Keywords: Gadolinium measurement; Neutron induced gamma activation; Neutron self-shielding.