• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.347-355
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• 2003

The \gamma-ray spectrometer of the PGAA (Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis) facility constructed at HANARO of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute was upgraded to the multi-mode spectrometer including the single mode, the Compton suppression mode and the pair mode. The performance of the spectrometer was tested and summarized. The background count rate and the uncertainty of the detection efficiency were reduced greatly in comparison with those before the new installation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.30-41
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• 2002

The neutron beam is fully characterized for the prompt gamma activation analysis facility at Hanaro in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute(KAERI). The facility uses thermal neutrons which are diffracted vertically from a horizontal beam port by a set of pyrolytic graphite(PG) crystals positioned at the Bragg angle of 45" Neutron spectra, neutron flux and Cd-ratio are determined for the three extraction modes of diffracted beam by means of the theoretical and experimental efforts. To obtain theoretical result, the reflectivity of pyrolytic graphite is calculated in the diffraction model for mosaic crystal and the angular divergence after diffraction by mosaic crystal is estimated from Monte Carlo simulation. The time-of-flight spectrometer and gold activation wire are used for measuring the neutron spectra. Both the calculated and measured spectra have proven that the unique feature of polychromatic beam obtained by PG crystals are useful for PGAA. The thermal neutron flux of 7.9$\times$107 n/cm$^2$s and the Cd-ratio of 266 for gold have been achieved at the sample position while the reactor operates at 24 MW The uniformity of beam flux is 12% in the central 1$\times$1 cm$^2$ area. Finally, the beam is briefly characterized by the effective velocity and temperature which are determined by measuring the prompt Y-ray spectra for thin and thick boron samples.ples.

• 분석과학
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.302-306
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• 2009

철강 중의 미량 붕소는 소재의 기계적, 물리적 특성에 중요한 영향을 준다. 즉발감마선 방사화 분석법에 의해 저합금강 시료 중의 미량 붕소를 측정하였다. 시료는 한국표준과학연구원에서 제조한 저합금강 표준물질KRISS 101-01-C21~C26을 이용하였으며, 측정방법의 유효성 확인을 위해 NIST SRM 362, 364, 1761, 1762를 정확도관리용 시료로 사용하였다. NIST SRM 362를 제외하고는 측정 농도가 인증값의 불확도 범위내에서 잘 일치하였다. 불확도는 ISO guideline에 따라 평가하였으며, 포함인자 2를 적용하여 확장불확도를 산출하였다. 붕소 농도 mg/kg수준에서 상대확장불확도는 3%에서 7% 사이였다. 그 결과를 용매추출-유도결합플라스마 방출분광분석결과와 비교하여 제시하였다.

• 분석과학
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.1041-1051
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• 2003

즉발감마선 중성자방사화법 (PGAA)은 시료내 미량 및 주원소를 빠르게 비파괴적으로 분석하는 방법으로 주로 광물, 금속, 석탄, 시멘트, 석유, 코팅, 제지 등 다양한 산업체에서 실시간 분석법으로 매우 유용하다. 이 방법은 제약과 관련된 산업체 또는 연구업무에도 활용되며, 마약 또는 폭발물과 같은 위험물질의 탐지에도 이용되고 있다. 본 총설은 즉발감마선 중성자 방사화법의 현재의 기술현황과 앞으로 연구추진 경향에 대하여 서술하였다. PGAA 시스템은 중성자 선원, 증성자 핵반응으로부터 발생하는 즉발감마선을 측정하기위한 다중채널분석기와 A/D 변환기 등의 전자모듈과 고분해능 HPGe 검출기로 구성된다. 속중성자의 콤프턴 산란에 의한 높은 바탕값은 감마-감마 동시계수장치의 도입으로 개선될 수 있다. 현재 $^{252}Cf$를 사용한 즉발감마선 중성자 방사화 장치는 수용액중에 존재하는 원소들의 실시간분석을 위해 한국원자력연구소에서 개발중에 있다. 이 장치는 다양한 마약 및 폭발물 또는 화학무기의 탐지에도 응용될 수 있다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권5호
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• pp.1708-1717
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• 2023

The grade analysis of lead-zinc ore is the basis for the optimal development and utilization of deposits. In this study, a method combining Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) technology and machine learning is proposed for lead-zinc mine borehole logging, which can identify lead-zinc ores of different grades and gangue in the formation, providing real-time grade information qualitatively and semi-quantitatively. Firstly, Monte Carlo simulation is used to obtain a gamma-ray spectrum data set for training and testing machine learning classification algorithms. These spectra are broadened, normalized and separated into inelastic scattering and capture spectra, and then used to fit different classifier models. When the comprehensive grade boundary of high- and low-grade ores is set to 5%, the evaluation metrics calculated by the 5-fold cross-validation show that the SVM (Support Vector Machine), KNN (K-Nearest Neighbor), GNB (Gaussian Naive Bayes) and RF (Random Forest) models can effectively distinguish lead-zinc ore from gangue. At the same time, the GNB model has achieved the optimal accuracy of 91.45% when identifying high- and low-grade ores, and the F₁ score for both types of ores is greater than 0.9.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권1호
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• pp.262-268
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• 2022

This paper introduces a novel concept of the pulsed neutron facility (PNF) for maximizing the production of the thermal neutrons and its application to medical use based on prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) using Monte Carlo simulations. The PNF consists of a compact D-T neutron generator, a graphite pile, and a detection system using Cadmium telluride (CdTe) detector arrays. The configuration of fuel pins in the graphite monolith and the design and materials for the moderating layer were studied to optimize the thermal neutron yields. Biological samples - normal and cancerous breast tissues - including chlorine, a trace element, were used to investigate the sensitivity of the characteristic γ-rays by neutron-trace material interactions and the detector responses of multiple particles. Around 90 % of neutrons emitted from a deuterium-tritium (D-T) neutron generator thermalized as they passed through the graphite stockpile. The thermal neutrons captured the chlorines in the samples, then the characteristic γ-rays with specific energy levels of 6.12, 7.80 and 8.58 MeV were emitted. Since the concentration of chlorine in the cancerous tissue is twice that in the normal tissue, the count ratio of the characteristic g-rays of the cancerous tissue over the normal tissue is approximately 2.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제35권6호
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• pp.523-528
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• 2003

The efficiencies of single escape and double escape peaks were calculated by using Monte Carlo method and compared with measured efficiencies. The efficiency was obtained from the area ratio of escape peak to full energy absorption peak and the full energy absorption peak efficiency. For the escape peak interfered with other $\gamma-ray$ peaks, the net area was obtained by area correction. The GEANT code developed in CERN was used for the Monte Carlo calculation. The calculated efficiencies of the escape peaks agreed with the measurement within $12\%$.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권6호
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• pp.2221-2229
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• 2022

In this research, for improving the measurement performance of Prompt Gamma-ray Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) set-up, a new optimization method for set-up design was proposed and investigated. At first, the calculation method for Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) was proposed. Since the SNR could be calculated and quantified accurately, the SNR was chosen as the evaluation parameter in the new optimization method. For discussing the feasibility of the SNR optimization method, two kinds of PGNAA set-ups were designed in the MCNP code, based on the SNR optimization method and the previous signal optimization method, respectively. Meanwhile, the single element spectra analysis method was proposed, and the analysis effect of single element spectra as well as element sensitivity were used for comparing the measurement performance. Since the simulation results showed the better measurement performance of set-up designed by SNR optimization method, the experimental set-ups were built for the further testing, finally demonstrating the feasibility of the SNR optimization method for PGNAA setup design.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제35권3호
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• pp.234-242
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• 2003

The full energy peak efficiency of a hyper pure germanium (HPGe) detector was calibrated in a wide energy range from 0.06 to 11 MeV. Both the experimental technique and the Monte Carlo method were used for the efficiency calibration. The measurement was performed using the standard radioisotopes in the low energy region of $60{\sim}1408$ keV, which was further extended up to 11 MeV by using the $^{14}N(n,r)\;and\;^{35}Cl(n,r)$ reactions. The GEANT Monte Carlo code was used for efficiency calculation. The calculated efficiency had the same dependency on the r-ray energy with the measurement, and the discrepancy between the calculation and the measurement was minimized by fine-tuning of the detector geometry. From the calculated result, the efficiency curve of the HPGe detector was reliably determined particularly in the high energy region above several MeV, where the number of measured efficiency points is relatively small despite the wide energy region. The calculated efficiency agreed with the measurement within about $7\%$. In addition to the efficiency calculation, the origin of the local minimum near 600 keV on the efficiency curve was analyzed as a general characteristics of a HPGe detector.

• 분석과학
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.391-398
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• 2003

하나로의 즉발감마선 방사화분석 장치를 이용하여 생물시료중의 붕소의 정량을 위한 기초연구를 수행하였다. 측정조건에 대한 특성조사를 위해 시료에 대한 중성자 조사 위치에서 중성자속 및 균질도를 측정하였다. 시료위치에서 열중성자 빔의 크기가 $2{\times}2cm^2$ 되도록 집속하였으며, 측정된 선속은 $1.0{\sim}6.5{\times}10^7n{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ 범위를 나타냈으며, 중심부로부터 반경 4.5 mm 이내 및 9 mm 이내에서 각각 $5.77{\pm}0.71{\times}10^7n{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, $4.68{\pm}1.64{\times}10^7n{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$이었다. 따라서 양질의 균일한 조사를 위해서 시료의 크기를 10 mm 이내로 조정하였다. 검출 시스템은 컴프턴 산란에 의한 백그라운드 요인을 억제하고 분석감도를 높이기 위해 설계되었으며, 감마선 계측 시스템의 에너지 교정과 컴프턴 억제율을 조사하기 위해 NaCl 표준체를 이용하여 단일 및 컴프턴 모드로 백그라운드를 측정하였다. 또한 정확한 붕소의 측정을 위해 시료의 매질효과로서 발생하는 분광학적 Na의 472 keV 피이크에 대한 간섭효과를 결정하였으며, 세 가지 인증표준물질 (NIST SRM 1570a, 1547, 1573a)을 이용한 붕소농도 측정시험을 두 가지 모드로 실시한 후 결과를 비교하였다.