• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1667-1671
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• 2024

This paper presents a neutron/gamma detector based on a micropixel avalanche photodiode and a plastic scintillator that monitors the status of the accelerator-driven intense resonance neutron source (IREN) facility by measuring the neutron/gamma intensity in the target hall. The electronics of the neutron/gamma detector has been designed and developed. The size of the plastic scintillator was selected to be 3.7 × 3.7 × 30 mm³ due to the sensitive area of the MAPD. The experimental results demonstrated a dependence between the count rate of the detector and the frequency of the accelerator. The detector is sensitive to intermediate and fast neutrons. The minimum detectable energy was determined to be 200 keV using Cs-137 point gamma source. The maximum counting rate of the detector from TTL out is about 2.2⋅10⁶ counts/sec, but for analogue output it is about 2⋅10⁷ counts/sec. The detector can not allow discriminating neutrons and gamma rays by charge integration method.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.178-183
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• 2007

Neutrons are high LET (linear energy transfer) radiation and cause more damage to the target cells than x-rays or gamma rays. The damage from neutrons is generally considered fatal to a cell and neutrons have a greater tendency to cause cell death through direct interaction on DNA. We performed experiments to measure growth delay ratio and oxygen enhancement ratio (OER) in mouse model system. We inoculated EMT-6 cells to the right hind leg of BALB-c mouse and X-rays and neutron beams were given when the average volume of tumors reached $200-300mm^3$. We irradiated 0, 11, 15.4 Gy of X-ray and 0, 5, 7 Gy of fast neutron beam at normoxic and hypoxic condition. The volume of tumors was measured 3 times per week. In x-ray experiment, growth delay ratio was 1.34 with 11 Gy and 1.33 with 15.4 Gy in normoxic condition compared to in hypoxic condition, respectively. In neutron experiment, growth delay ratio was 0.94 with 5 Gy and 0.98 with 7 Gy, respectively. The OER of neutron beam was 0.97. The neutron beam was more effective than X-ray in the control of hypoxic tumors.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 1977

The neutron dosimetrical parameters, i. e., the fission neutron spectrum-averaged cross-sections and the fluence-to-dose conversion factors have been calculated for some threshold detectors with the aid of a computer. The threshold detectors under investigation were the $^{115}In(n,\;n')^{115m}In,\;^{32}S(n,\;p)^{32}P$ and $^{27}Al(n,\;{\alpha})^{24}Na$ reactions. It is revealed that the average cross-sections($\bar{\sigma}$) for the $^{32}S(n,\;p)^{32}P$ reaction are independent of the spectral functions, namely, the Watt-Cranberg and Maxwellian forms. In the case of the $^{27}Al(n,\;{\alpha})^{24}Na$ reaction a variation of the $\bar{\sigma}$ values appears to be highly dependent on the fissioning types. It seems that both the average cross-section for the $^{115}In(n,\;n')^{11m}In$ reaction and the conversion factor are insensitive to the spectral deformation of fission neutrons. These phenomena make it applicable to use indium as a possible integral fast neutron dosimeter in nuclear criticality accidents provided that the virgin fission neutrons are completely free from the scattered neutrons.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.113-117
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• 2018

Boron carbide is lower in hardness than diamond or boron nitride but has a hardness of more than 30 GPa and is used for manufacturing tank armors and ammo shells due to its high hardness. It is also used as a neutron absorber due to its ability to absorb neutrons, which is increasing its use in nuclear power projects. Neutrons have no interaction with electrons and are known to pass through the material without interactions. Along with boron carbide, the atoms with high interaction with neutrons are hydrogen, and high hydrogen concentration polyesters and epoxy polymers including boron are used as materials for manufacturing products for nuclear power generation waste. In this paper, the surface of boron carbide is treated with iron oxide and tungsten to improve interaction between modified boron carbide and epoxy polymer. XRD and XPS were used to confirm that iron oxide and tungsten are well attached on the surface of boron carbide, respectively. The mechanical strength of the surface treated boron carbide was measured by a universal testing machine (UTM) and the dynamic characteristics of the cured product were observed by using a dynamic analyzer (DMA).

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.385-391
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• 1997

An objection of this study is to develop a measuring circuit of a gauge using radioisotope for compaction control. The gauge developed in this study makes use of radioisotope with the activity exempted from domestic atomic law and consists of measuring circuits for gamma-rays and thermal neutrons, a high voltage supply unit, and a microprocessor. To obtain meaningful numbers of pulse counts, parallel five and two circuits are provided for gamma-rays and thermal neutrons, respectively. Being simple in electrical characteristics of G-M detector for gamma-rays, pulses are counted through only a shaping circuit. Very small pulses generated from He- 3 proportional detector for thermal neutrons are amplified to the maximum of 50 [dB] and a window comparator accepts only pulses with meaning. To minimize effects of natural environmental radiation and electrical noise, circuits are electrostatically shielded and pulses made by ripples are eliminated by taking frequency of high voltage supplied to the circuit and pulse height of ripples into consideration. One-chip microprocessor is applied to process various counts, results are stored and the gauage is made capable to communicate with PC. Enough and meaningful numbers of pulses are counted with the prototype gauage for compaction control.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.427-432
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• 2006

The design process for the series of cold neutron sources installed at NIST is presented, with particular emphasis on the reason for the decisions and choices made. These developments are used to illustrate some of the general principles of CNS design.

• Transactions of the KSME C: Technology and Education
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.257-264
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• 2015

To maintain sustainability of nuclear energy as an important energy source, both safety problem and Spent Nuclear Fuels(SNFs) problem should be solved. In case of Gen-IV reactors such as fast reactor, SNFs can be used as fuels by using fast neutrons. It can be a suitable treatment method of high-level waste in near future. Liquid metals such as Sodium or Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) can be possibly used as a coolant to use fast neutrons. In this paper, it was described that natural circulation parameter studies, design analyses, material selections and a completion of facilities. To develop a natural circulation facility, thermal hydraulic analyses were performed. Installation technique of liquid metal natural circulation were secured.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.104-104
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• 2015

Due to the demand of the cold neutron flux in the neutron science and beam utilization technology, the cold neutron source (CNS) has been constructed and operating in the nuclear research reactor all over the world. The majority of the heat load removal scheme in the CNS is two-phase thermosiphon using the liquid hydrogen as a moderator. The CNS moderates thermal neutrons through a cryogenic moderator, liquid hydrogen, into cold neutrons with the generation of the nuclear heat load. The liquid hydrogen in a moderator cell is evaporated for the removal of the generated heat load from the neutron moderation and flows upward into a heat exchanger, where the hydrogen gas is liquefied by the cryogenic helium gas supplied from a helium refrigeration system. The liquefied hydrogen flows down to the moderator cell. To keep the required liquid hydrogen stable in the moderator cell, the CNS consists of an in-pool assembly (IPA) connected with the hydrogen system to handle the required hydrogen gas, the vacuum system to create the thermal insulation, and the helium refrigeration system to provide the cooling capacity. If one of systems is running out of order, the operating research reactor shall be tripped because the integrity of the CNS-IPA is not secured under the full power operation of the reactor. To prevent unscheduled reactor shutdown during a long time because the research reactor has been operating with the multi-purposes, the introduction of the standby cooling system (STS) can be a solution. In this presentation, the design considerations are considered how to design the STS satisfied with the following objectives: (a) to keep the moderator cell less than 350 K during the full power operation of the reactor under loss of the vacuum, loss of the cooling power, loss of common electrical power, or loss of instrument air cases; (b) to circulate smoothly helium gas in the STS circulation loop; (c) to re-start-up the reactor within 1 hour after its trip to avoid the Xenon build-up because more than certain concentration of Xenon makes that the reactor cannot start-up again; (d) to minimize the possibility of the hydrogen-oxygen reaction in the hydrogen boundary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.565-573
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• 2018

Cyclotron for medical purposes generates nuclear reaction by accelerating protons in high speed, in order to produce radiopharmaceuticals, and unnecessary neutrons are generated through such nuclear reaction. Neutrons cause activation in the parts of cyclotron which then cause exposure to radiation for people working in the field. This study, in that regard, aims to analyze exposure level by finding out the degree of activation of aluminum body, silver body, and havar foil which are the parts of Targetry where the nuclear reaction takes place. The results of the experiment showed that aluminum body and silver body had no problems re-using them as the energy and half-life of activated nuclides were small and short, making the affect on the people working in the field extremely low. However for havar foil, its activated nuclides had a high level of energy which resulted in high level of affect to the people working in the field. The activation factors of the cyclotron were analyzed, and the results showed that the Havar foil was activated the most among the targetry parts, and greatly exposed workers due to regular replacement, and needed special management as radioactive waste.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.297-302
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• 2017

In this study, the generation of photoneutrons between the 10 MV FF mode and the FFF mode was evaluated and the amount of photoneutrons generated by the 10 MV and 15 MV energy changes in the FFF mode was evaluated. The generated neutrons were evaluated at 13 measurement points and the KTEPC was used to collect the generated neutrons. 10 MV FF mode was measured at 10 MV FF mode and FFF mode at all measurement points. In the superior direction, 0.455mSv and 0.152mSv were the largest, and more than 33% optical neutron was generated in FF. 10 MV in FFF mode, 15 MV in 15 MV, and 0.402 mSv in the direction of Superior, and 6.9% in the direction.