Development and experimental validation of a monte carlo modeling of the neutron emission from a d-t generator

Remetti, Romolo; Lepore, Luigi; Cherubini, N.

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2016.10.031

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…For the Thermo Scientific MP-320 DT generator used in this experiment, the expected neutron yield for operational settings of 70 kV and 50 µA is roughly 5-7 × 10 7 neutrons/s. 26 This agrees well with the source neutron flux of 5.0 × 10 7 neutrons/s estimated by the simulation scaling model. Figures 14-15 show the comparison of simulated and experimental data for the "full" and "half" shell configurations, respectively.…”

Section: Dt Transmissionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Spectroscopic fast neutron transmission imaging in a treaty verification setting

2018

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Measurements of the geometric configuration of objects and their material composition are needed for nuclear treaty verification purposes. We experimentally demonstrate a simple method based on monoenergetic fast neutron transmission to realize crude imaging of the geometric configuration of special nuclear material, confirm its fissionable content, and obtain information on its approximate fissile mass. In the experiment, we used monoenergetic neutrons from D(d, n)3He and T(d, n)4He reactions and a linear array of liquid scintillation detectors to perform spectroscopic neutron imaging of up to 13.7 kg of highly enriched uranium in a spherical geometry. We also show an example of detection of material diversion and confirm the presence of fissionable material based on the measurement of high-energy prompt fission neutrons, including estimating the quantity of material from the comparison of measured and predicted fission neutron emission rate. The combination of crude imaging and fissionable material detection and quantification in a simple approach may be attractive in certain treaty verification scenarios.

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Section: Dt Transmissionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Spectroscopic fast neutron transmission imaging in a treaty verification setting

2018

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“…Work by Remetti et al . was used to evaluate the anisotropy present in the neutron emission from the generator, which provides an estimate of the total emission, for different current and voltage settings, as well as the angular emission 23 . Their work suggests that a voltage 70 kV and a current of 50 μA will produce a neutron yield of about 6 × 10 7 neutrons per second.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active neutron and gamma-ray imaging of highly enriched uranium for treaty verification

Hamel

Polack

Ruch

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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The detection and characterization of highly enriched uranium (HEU) presents a large challenge in the non-proliferation field. HEU has a low neutron emission rate and most gamma rays are low energy and easily shielded. To address this challenge, an instrument known as the dual-particle imager (DPI) was used with a portable deuterium-tritium (DT) neutron generator to detect neutrons and gamma rays from induced fission in HEU. We evaluated system response using a 13.7-kg HEU sphere in several configurations with no moderation, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) moderation, and tungsten moderation. A hollow tungsten sphere was interrogated to evaluate the response to a possible hoax item. First, localization capabilities were demonstrated by reconstructing neutron and gamma-ray images. Once localized, additional properties such as fast neutron energy spectra and time-dependent neutron count rates were attributed to the items. For the interrogated configurations containing HEU, the reconstructed neutron spectra resembled Watt spectra, which gave confidence that the interrogated items were undergoing induced fission. The time-dependent neutron count rate was also compared for each configuration and shown to be dependent on the neutron multiplication of the item. This result showed that the DPI is a viable tool for localizing and confirming fissile mass and multiplication.

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“…With the advantages of light weight, transportability, safety, and adjustable neutron yield, neutron generators have been widely used in oil logging [ 1 ], neutron activation analysis (NAA) [ 2 , 3 ], neutron radiography [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], and boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) [ 7 , 8 ]. Common neutron generators use 2 H(d,n) 3 He (D–D) and 2 H(t,n) 4 He (D–T) fusion reactions to produce neutrons with energies of 2.5 and 14.1 MeV, respectively [ 9 ]. The solid target D–D reaction commercial neutron generator produced by Adelphi has the highest neutron yield of 5 × 10 9 n/s [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural and Secondary Electron Yield Properties of Titanium–Palladium Films with Laser-Treated Copper Substrate for Application in Neutron Generators

Gao

Wang

et al. 2021

Materials

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Secondary electron emission (SEE) of the oxygen-free high-conductivity copper (OFHC) target surface in neutron generators limits the stability and improvement of the neutron yield. A novel-type target of titanium–palladium films coated on laser-treated OFHC target substrate was proposed and explored in this work to obtain low secondary electron yield (SEY) without introducing any components. The combination of Ti–Pd films and laser-treated OFHC substrate can effectively suppress secondary electron emission and enhance the adsorption ability to hydrogen isotopes with the existence of Pd film. The surface morphologies, surface chemical states, and SEYs of Ti–Pd films with laser-treated OFHC substrate were studied systematically for the first time. The XPS results showed that the laser-treated OFHC substrate surface was basically covered by Pd film. However, the Pd film surface was partially oxidized, with percentages of 21.31 and 10.02% for PdO and PdO2, respectively. The SEYs of Ti–Pd films with laser-treated OFHC substrate were all below 1 within the investigated primary energy range of 100–3000 eV, which would be sufficient for application in neutron generators. Specifically, the maximum SEY (δmax) of laser-treated OFHC substrate coated by Ti–Pd films was 0.87 with corresponding incident electron energy of 400 eV.

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Development and experimental validation of a monte carlo modeling of the neutron emission from a d-t generator

Cited by 12 publications

References 8 publications

Spectroscopic fast neutron transmission imaging in a treaty verification setting

Spectroscopic fast neutron transmission imaging in a treaty verification setting

Active neutron and gamma-ray imaging of highly enriched uranium for treaty verification

Structural and Secondary Electron Yield Properties of Titanium–Palladium Films with Laser-Treated Copper Substrate for Application in Neutron Generators

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