Characterisation of neutron fields at the n-lab, a fast neutron facility at the University of Cape Town

Tanya Hutton; Andy Buffler

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2024.111196

Characterisation of neutron fields at the n-lab, a fast neutron facility at the University of Cape Town

Appl Radiat Isot. 2024 Apr:206:111196. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2024.111196. Epub 2024 Jan 22.

Authors

Tanya Hutton¹, Andy Buffler²

Affiliations

¹ Metrological and Applied Sciences University Research Unit (MeASURe), Department of Physics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa. Electronic address: tanya.hutton@uct.ac.za.
² Metrological and Applied Sciences University Research Unit (MeASURe), Department of Physics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa.

PMID: 38309120
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2024.111196

Abstract

The n-lab is a fast neutron facility based in the Department of Physics, University of Cape Town, offering collimated neutron beams produced by an MP 320 deuterium-tritium sealed tube neutron generator, and a 220 GBq americium-beryllium radioisotopic source. Characterisations of the spatial and energy distributions of the fast neutron beams were performed using an EJ-301 organic liquid scintillator detector and digital data acquisition system. Neutron energy spectra were obtained through unfolding analyses with MAXED, and a Monte Carlo approach to the propagation of uncertainties was implemented. Measurements of fluence and neutron emission rates were determined through the neutron activation of copper foils and subsequently used to validate the scaling of the unfolded neutron energy spectra.

Keywords: EJ-301 liquid scintillator; Fast neutron beams; MAXED spectrum unfolding; Neutron activation analysis.