• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05d
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• pp.101-106
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• 1996

For the application of the neutron flux mapping, an accurate calculation of the sensitivity is required because the sensitivity is proportional to the neutron flux density. Sensitivity is defined as the current per unit length per unit neutron flux and it mainly depends on the depression factor(f), the escape probability from the emitter($\varepsilon$1) and the charge build-up factor of the insulator layer(c). A Monte Carlo simulation was accomplished to calculate the sensitivity of rhodium emitter material and alumina(Al$_2$O$_3$) insulator with a cylindrical geometry, based on the (n,${\beta}$) interaction and on other interaction including the secondary electron generation for the more accurate estimation of the sensitivity. From the simulation results, factors fur the sensitivity were accurately calculated and compared with other theoretical and experimental values. In addition, the sensitivity linearly increases and saturates as the emitter radius increases. The accomplished method is useful in the analysis for the change of SPND sensitivity as a function of burn-up and in the optimum design of SPND.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2767-2773
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• 2021

We used the GEANT4 Monte Carlo MC Toolkit to simulate carbon ion beams incident on water, tissue, and bone, taking into account nuclear fragmentation reactions. Upon increasing the energy of the primary beam, the position of the Bragg-Peak transfers to a location deeper inside the phantom. For different materials, the peak is located at a shallower depth along the beam direction and becomes sharper with increasing electron density NZ. Subsequently, the generated depth dose of the Bragg curve is then benchmarked with experimental data from GSI in Germany. The results exhibit a reasonable correlation with GSI experimental data with an accuracy of between 0.02 and 0.08 cm, thus establishing the basis to adopt MC in heavy-ion treatment planning. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov K-S test further ascertained from a statistical point of view that the simulation data matched the experimentally measured data very well. The two-dimensional isodose contours at the entrance were compared to those around the peak position and in the tail region beyond the peak, showing that bone produces more dose, in comparison to both water and tissue, due to secondary doses. In the water, the results show that the maximum energy deposited per fragment is mainly attributed to secondary carbon ions, followed by secondary boron and beryllium. Furthermore, the number of protons produced is the highest, thus making the maximum contribution to the total dose deposition in the tail region. Finally, the associated spectra of neutrons and photons were analyzed. The mean neutron energy value was found to be 16.29 MeV, and 1.03 MeV for the secondary gamma. However, the neutron dose was found to be negligible as compared to the total dose due to their longer range.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.3073-3084
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• 2022

The propagation of radiation source uncertainties in spent nuclear fuel (SNF) cask shielding calculations is presented in this paper. The uncertainty propagation employs the depletion and source term outputs of the deterministic code STREAM as input to the transport simulation of the Monte Carlo (MC) codes MCS and MCNP6. The uncertainties of dose rate coming from two sources: nuclear data and modeling parameters, are quantified. The nuclear data uncertainties are obtained from the stochastic sampling of the cross-section covariance and perturbed fission product yields. Uncertainties induced by perturbed modeling parameters consider the design parameters and operating conditions. Uncertainties coming from the two sources result in perturbed depleted nuclide inventories and radiation source terms which are then propagated to the dose rate on the cask surface. The uncertainty analysis results show that the neutron and secondary photon dose have uncertainties which are dominated by the cross section and modeling parameters, while the fission yields have relatively insignificant effect. Besides, the primary photon dose is mostly influenced by the fission yield and modeling parameters, while the cross-section data have a relatively negligible effect. Moreover, the neutron, secondary photon, and primary photon dose can have uncertainties up to about 13%, 14%, and 6%, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2007

Lithium ion secondary battery has been applied widely to portable devices, and has been studied for application to high power electric cell system such as power tool or hybrid electronic vehicle. The structure change of the electrodes materials occur when lithium ions move between electrodes. Neutron or X-rays can analyze the structure of electrode. The advantage of X-rays is convenient in test. However X-rays is scattered by electron cloud in atoms. Therefore, The elucidation for correct position of lithium is difficult with X-rays because lithium has small atomic weight. Neutron analysis techniques could solve this problem. In this review, We wish to discuss about structure analysis and the principle of structural characterization method using neutron beam source.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.344-349
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• 2016

Background: Carbon ion therapy has achieved satisfactory results. However, patients have a risk to get a secondary cancer. In order to estimate the risk, it is essential to understand particle transportation and nuclear reactions in the patient's body. The particle transport Monte Carlo simulation code is a useful tool to understand them. Since the code validation for heavy ion incident reactions is not enough, the experimental data of the elementary reaction processes are needed. Materials and Methods: We measured neutron production double-differential cross-sections (DDXs) on a carbon bombarded with 430 MeV/nucleon carbon beam at PH2 beam line of HIMAC facility in NIRS. Neutrons produced in the target were measured with NE213 liquid organic scintillators located at six angles of 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and $90^{\circ}$. Results and Discussion: Neutron production double-differential cross-sections for carbon bombarded with 430 MeV/nucleon carbon ions were measured by the time-of-flight method with NE213 liquid organic scintillators at six angles of 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and $90^{\circ}$. The cross sections were obtained from 1 MeV to several hundred MeV. The experimental data were compared with calculated results obtained by Monte Carlo simulation codes PHITS, Geant4, and FLUKA. Conclusion: PHITS was able to reproduce neutron production for elementary processes of carbon-carbon reaction precisely the best of three codes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.1291-1302
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• 2016

This paper presents a new and efficient scheme to determine the optimal neutron source position in a model near-equilibrium pressurized water reactor, which is based on the OPR1000 Hanul Unit 3 Cycle 7 configuration. The proposed scheme particularly assigns importance of source positions according to the local adjoint flux distribution. In this research, detailed pin-by-pin reactor adjoint fluxes are determined by using the Monte Carlo KENO-VI code from solutions of the reactor homogeneous critical adjoint transport equations. The adjoint fluxes at each allowable source position are subsequently ranked to yield four candidate positions with the four highest adjoint fluxes. The study next simulates ex-core detector responses using the Monte Carlo MAVRIC code by assuming a neutron source is installed in one of the four candidate positions. The calculation is repeated for all positions. These detector responses are later converted into an inverse count rate ratio curve for each candidate source position. The study confirms that the optimal source position is the one with very high adjoint fluxes and detector responses, which is interestingly the original source position in the OPR1000 core, as it yields an inverse count rate ratio curve closest to the traditional 1/M line. The current work also clearly demonstrates that the proposed adjoint flux-based approach can be used to efficiently determine the optimal geometry for a neutron source and a detector in a modern pressurized water reactor core.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.3398-3405
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• 2021

This study observed the effect of neutron irradiation and ageing on the microstructure, hardness, and corrosion resistance of SAV-1 (Al-Mg-Si) alloy. The investigated material was irradiated with neutrons to fluences of 10²¹-10²⁶ n/m² in the WWR-K research reactor and kept in dry storage. Long-term irradiation led to an increase in hardness of the alloy and a deterioration of pitting corrosion resistance. Post-irradiation ageing for 1 h at 100-300 ℃ resulted in a decrease in microhardness of the irradiated SAV-1. The effect of post-irradiation ageing on pitting corrosion was made clear through the formation of Guinier-Preston zones and secondary precipitates in the Al matrix. Ageing at 250 ℃ corresponded to the development of stable microstructure and the highest corrosion resistance for the irradiated samples. Mg₂Si, Si, and needle-shaped β" precipitates were formed in SAV-1 alloy that was irradiated with low fluences. β" and clusters of rod-shaped B-type precipitates were observed in highly irradiated samples. The precipitates were similar to those seen in non-irradiated pseudo-binary Al-Mg₂Si alloys with Si excess.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.673-684
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• 2024

STREAM, developed by the Computational Reactor Physics and Experiment laboratory (CORE) of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), is a deterministic neutron- and photon-transport code primarily designed for light water reactor (LWR) analysis. Initially, the photon module in STREAM did not account for fluorescence and bremsstrahlung photons. This article presents recent developments regarding the integration of atomic relaxation and bremsstrahlung models into the existing photon module, thus allowing for the transport of secondary photons. The photon flux and photon heating computed with the newly incorporated models is compared to results obtained with the Monte Carlo code MCS. The incorporation of secondary photons has substantially improved the accuracy of photon flux calculations, particularly in scenarios involving strong gamma emitters. However, it is essential to note that despite the consideration of secondary photon sources, there is no noticeable improvement in the photon heating for LWR problems when compared to the photon heating obtained with the previous version of STREAM.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.199-205
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• 2014

In the field of neutron detections, $^3He$ gas, the so-called "the gold standard," is the most widely used material for neutron detections because of its high efficiency in neutron capturing. However, from variable causes since early 2009, $^3He$ is being depleted, which has maintained an upward pressure on its cost. For this reason, the demands for $^3He$ replacements are rising sharply. Research into neutron converting materials, which has not been used well due to a neutron detection efficiency lower than the efficiency of $^3He$, although it can be chosen for use in a neutron detector, has been highlighted again. $^{10}B$, which is one of the $^3He$ replacements, such as $BF_3$, $^6Li$, $^{10}B$, $Gd_2O_2S$, is being researched by various detector development groups owing to a number of advantages such as easy gamma-ray discrimination, non-toxicity, low cost, etc. One of the possible techniques for the detection is an indirect neutron detection method measuring secondary radiation generated by interactions between neutrons and $^{10}B$. Because of the mean free path of alpha particle from interactions that are very short in a solid material, the thickness of $^{10}B$ should be thin. Therefore, to increase the neutron detection efficiency, it is important to make a $^{10}B$ thin film. In this study, we fabricated a $^{10}B$ thin film that is about 60 um in thickness for neutron detection using well-known technology for the manufacturing of a thin electrode for use in lithium ion batteries. In addition, by performing simple physical tests on the conductivity, dispersion, adhesion, and flexibility, we confirmed that the physical characteristics of the fabricated $^{10}B$ thin film are good. Using the fabricated $^{10}B$ thin film, we made a proportional counter for neutron monitoring and measured the neutron pulse height spectrum at a neutron facility at KAERI. Furthermore, we calculated using the Monte Carlo simulation the change of neutron detection efficiency according to the number of thin film layers. In conclusion, we suggest a fabrication method of a $^{10}B$ thin film using the technology used in making a thin electrode of lithium ion batteries and made the $^{10}B$ thin film for neutron detection using suggested method.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2013

The skyshine effect is an essential and important phenomenon in the shielding design of the high energy accelerator. In this study, a new estimation method of neutron skyshine was proposed and was verified by comparison with existing methods. The effective dose of secondary neutrons and photons at the locations that was far away from high-energy electron accelerator was calculated using FLUKA and PHITS Monte Carlo code. The transport paths of secondary radiations to reach a long distance were classified as skyshine, direct, groundshine and multiple-shine. The contribution of each classified component to the total effective dose was evaluated. The neutrons produced from the thick copper target irradiated by 10 GeV electron beam was applied as a source term of this transport. In order to evaluate a groundshine effect, the composition of soil on the PAL-XFEL site was considered. At a relatively short distance less than 50 m from the accelerator tunnel, the direct and groundshine components mostly contributed to the total effective dose. The skyshine component was important at a long distance. The evaluated dose of neutron skyshine agreed better with the results using Rindi's formula, which was based on the experimental results at high energy electron accelerator. That also agreed with the estimated dose using the simple evaluation code, SHINE3, within about 20%. The total effective dose, including all components, was 10 times larger than the estimated doses using other methods for this comparison. The influence of multiple-shine path in this evaluation of the estimation method was investigated to be bigger than one of pure skyshine path.