‘The measurement of thermal neutron flux depression for determining the concentration of boron in blood’—suggestions as to further development of the method

Abstract

Suggestions about determining the concentration of 10B in blood via the thermal neutron flux depression measurement (NFDM) are made. The use of a measuring set-up consisting of a 252Cf neutron source, polyethylene moderator and a slim BF3 counter surrounded by an annular sample is examined. It is shown experimentally that using 6 ml samples and the source emitting 1.4 x 10(7) neutrons s(-1), one can determine the concentration of 10B in water at the level of 10 ppm with a statistical precision of 10% in about 20 min. Monte Carlo simulations performed with the use of MCNP-4C code revealed a potential for further improvements of the NFDM technique both in respect of the sample volume and counting period.