• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.223-226
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• 2013

We designed a single polyethylene bonner sphere with several thermo-luminescence dosimeters (TLD), for measurement of neutron energy spectrum. For the separation of the neutron dosage in the neutron-gamma mixed field, we used 21 ea TLD-600s and TLD-700s, respectively. Because, TLD-600 is sensitive to neutron and gamma rays, and, TLD-700 is sensitive only to gamma-rays, we could determine the each dose by neutron and gamma rays. The neutron response function of the bonner sphere with TLDs was calculated by MCNPX (ver. 2.5.0) Monte Carlo simulation in the energy range from $10^{-1}$ to 20 MeV. For the Cf-252 standard neutron source in KRISS, we could estimate the neutron energy spectrum by unfolding method using the response function.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2614-2624
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• 2022

Monte Carlo simulations were used to model a portable Neutron backscattering (NBT) sensor suitable for detecting plastic anti-personnel mines (APMs) buried in dry and moist soils. The model consists of a 100 MBq ²⁵²Cf source encapsulated in a neutron reflector/shield assembly and centered between two ³He detectors. Multi-parameter optimization was performed to investigate the efficiency of Be/Zr(BH₄)₄ and Be/Be(BH₄)₂ assemblies in terms of increasing the signal-to-background (S/B) ratio and reducing the total dose equivalent rate. The MCNP results showed that 2 cm Be/3 cm Zr(BH₄)₄ and 2 cm Be/3 cm Be(BH₄)₂ are the optimal configurations. However, due to portability requirements and abundance of Be, the ²⁵²Cf-2 cm Be/3 cm Be(BH₄)₂ NBT model was selected to scan the center of APM buried 3 cm deep in dry and moist soils. The selected NBT model has positively identified the APM with a S/B ratio of 886 for dry soils of 1 wt% hydrogen content and with S/B ratios of 615, 398, 86, and 12 for the moist soils containing 4, 6, 10, and 14 wt% hydrogen, respectively. The total dose equivalent rate reached 0.0031 mSv/h, suggesting a work load of 8 h/day for 806 days within the permissible annual dose limit of 20 mSv.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.590-595
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• 2003

An Exponential experiment system which is composed of a neutron detector, a signal analysis system and a neutron source, Cf-252 has been installed in order to experimentally determine the neutron effective multiplication factor for a PWR spent fuel assembly. The axial background neutron flux is measured in a preliminary performance test. From the results, the spacer grid position is determined to be consistent with the design specifications within a 2.3% relative error. The induced fission neutron for four of the assemblies is also measured by scanning the neutron source, Cf-252 or the neutron detector. The exponential decay constants have been evaluated by the application of the Poisson regression to the net induced fission neutron counts. The measured keffs determined on the basis of the exponential decay constants of Cl5 appeared to be 0.541, 0.540, 0.597 and 0.556, respectively, which are comparable with 0.55195$\pm$0.00232 of the MCNP calculation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.959-964
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• 2022

Lead is an important material, both for fusion or fission reactors. The cross sections of natural lead should be validated because lead is a main component of lithium-lead modules suggested for fusion power plants and it directly affects the crucial variable, tritium breeding ratio. The presented study discusses a validation of the lead transport libraries by dint of the activation of carefully selected activation samples. The high emission standard ²⁵²Cf neutron source was used as a neutron source for the presented validation experiment. In the irradiation setup, the samples were placed behind 5 and 10 cm of the lead material. Samples were measured using a gamma spectrometry to infer the reaction rate and compared with MCNP6 calculations using ENDF/B-VIII.0 lead cross sections. The experiment used validated IRDFF-II dosimetric reactions to validate lead cross sections, namely ¹⁹⁷Au(n, 2n)¹⁹⁶Au, ⁵⁸Ni(n,p)⁵⁸Co, ⁹³Nb(n, 2n)^92mNb, ¹¹⁵In(n,n')^115mIn, ¹¹⁵In(n,γ)^116mIn, ¹⁹⁷Au(n,γ)¹⁹⁸Au and ⁶³Cu(n,γ)⁶⁴Cu reactions. The threshold reactions agree reasonably with calculations; however, the experimental data suggests a higher thermal neutron flux behind lead bricks. The paper also suggests ²⁵²Cf isotropic source as a valuable tool for validation of some cross-sections important for fusion applications, i.e. reactions on structural materials, e.g. Cu, Pb, etc.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.822-823
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• 2005

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 1998

Domestic intercomparison study of the neutron personnel dosemeters was performed for the first time in Korea. Thirteen types of neutron dosemeters from twelve institutions took part in this intercomparison study and the $D_2O$ moderated Cf-252 source of KAERI was used for irradiation. Eight of the fifteen dosemeters submitted by each participant were divided into two groups and each group was irradiated with different doses of the simulated mixed fields of neutron and gamma. The participants assessed their dosemeter reading in terms of the personal dose equivalent, Hp(10), for both neutron and gamma dose. The ratio of the reported dose equivalent to the delivered dose equivalent for comparison between participants ranged from 0.55 to 1.34 for neutron, from 0.54 to 1.32 for gamma and from 0.75 to 1.20 for total dose. This intercomparison results show that all dosemeter processors, especially for neutron category, are able to pass the personnel dosemeter performance test which shall be enforced according to the ordinance of the MOST, No. 96-6.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.101-105
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• 2018

In this paper, a neutron moderation system for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) based on a $^{252}Cf$ neutron source is proposed. Different materials have been studied in order to produce a high percentage of epithermal neutrons. A moderator with a construction mixture of $AlF_3$ and Al, three reflectors of $Al_2O_3$, BeO, graphite, and seven filters (Bi, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ti, a two-layer filter of Ti+Bi, and a two-layer filter of Ti+Pb) is considered. The MCNPX simulation code has been used to calculate the neutron and gamma flux at the output window of the neutronic system. The results show that the epithermal neutron flux is relatively high for four filters: Ti+Pb, Ti+Bi, Bi, and Ti. However, a layer of Ti cannot reduce the contribution of ${\gamma}$-rays at the output window. Although the neutron spectra filtered by the Ti+Bi and Ti+Pb overlap, a large fraction of neutrons (74.95%) has epithermal energy when the Ti+Pb is used as a filter. However, the percentages of the fast and thermal neutrons are 25% and 0.5%, respectively. The Bi layer provides a relatively low epithermal neutron flux. Moreover, an assembly configuration of 30% $AlF_3+70%$ Al moderator/$Al_2O_3$ reflector/a two-layer filter of Ti+Pb reduces the fast neutron flux at the output port much more than other assembly combinations. In comparison with a recent model suggested by Ghassoun et al., the proposed neutron moderation system provides a higher epithermal flux with a relatively low contamination of gamma rays.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.401-407
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• 1999

We have performed two experiments in the fast critical assembly BFS to measure the effective delayed neutron fraction $\beta$$_{eff}$ values and compared the results to validate the $\beta$$_{eff}$ computation code, BETA-K. Measurements of $\beta$$_{eff}$ were carried out in a metallic plutonium core and a metallic uranium core with Cf$^{252}$ source pseudo-reactivity method. Fission integrals and correction factors, which were used to obtain the experimental $\beta$$_{eff}$ values, were calculated by using the LMR core design computation code system of KAERI. BETA-K has been developed consistently with the hexagonal Nodal Expansion Method (NEM) and it used delayed neutron data of ENDF/B-VI. By comparing the computed $\beta$$_{eff}$ values with the measured ones, we found that the results from BETA-K agreed with the experimental values within the experimental error bound.ror bound.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.1406-1413
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• 2022

In this study, a diamond-based neutron scatter camera (DNSC) was developed for neutron spectroscopy in high flux environments. The DNSC was evaluated experimentally and through simulations. It was simulated using several Monte Carlo codes in a two-array layout. The two-array model included two diamond detectors. The simulation reconstructed the spectra of ²⁵²Cf and ²³⁹Pu-Be neutron sources with high accuracy (~93%). The two-diamond array system was experimentally evaluated, demonstrating the neutron spectroscopy capabilities of the DNSC. The reconstructed spectrum of the ²³⁹Pu-Be source manifested the characteristic peaks of the source. The advantage of a DNSC over a NSC is its ability to define any neutron double-scattering events without the need to absorb incident neutrons in the second detector, and atomic recoil energy information is not needed to determine the incident neutron energy.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.51-57
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• 2003

Mitigation of fast neutron irradiation damage on reactor vessel and improvement of mechanical integrity are desired for the successful plant life-time extension. In this study, the performance of metallic hydride for this application is reviewed and compared. First, selected prospective metallic hydrides are evaluated by MCNP code and put into the attenuation test using Cf-252 neutron source. Since for the reactor application high moderation and reflection with no absorption are favored, Z factor is introduced for the evaluation. According to the Z value estimation $ZrD_2$ and $TiD_2$ are turned out to be the most favorable fast neutron shielding materials. More thorough evaluation by computer simulation and experimentally, will be followed.