Monte Carlo simulation of prompt γ -ray spectra from depleted uranium under D-T neutron irradiation and electron recoil spectra in a liquid scintillator detector

Abstract

Abstract:To overcome the problem of inefficient computing time and unreliable results in MCNP5 calculation, a two-step method is adopted to calculate the energy deposition of prompt γ-rays in detectors for depleted uranium spherical shells under D-T neutrons irradiation. In the first step, the γ-ray spectrum for energy below 7 MeV is calculated by MCNP5 code; secondly, the electron recoil spectrum in a BC501A liquid scintillator detector is simulated based on EGSnrc Monte Carlo Code with the γ-ray spectrum from the first step as input. The comparison of calculated results with experimental ones shows that the simulations agree well with experiment in the energy region 0.4-3 MeV for the prompt γ-ray spectrum and below 4 MeVee for the electron recoil spectrum. The reliability of the two-step method in this work is validated.