Measurements and simulations of the cosmic-ray-induced neutron background
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
The cosmic-ray-induced neutron background at ground level has been measured and simulated in conjunction with EJ-309 organic liquid scintillators with an approximate deposited energy range of 0.5–6 MeV. Specifically, the pulse height distributions, net neutron count rates, and angular dependences were obtained. The simulations were carried out using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNPX-PoliMi combined with the (Cosmic-Ray Shower Generator) CRY source subroutine that returns secondary particles produced by cosmic rays. A scaling formula from literature was also implemented in the simulation. The angular dependence of the neutron count rate was measured by collimating the liquid scintillator with polyethylene to attain 18° angular resolution from 0° downwards to 72° horizontally. The neutron count rate was measured to be 23.10±1.69 h-1 sr-1 at 0°, and 7.20±0.78 h-1 sr-1 at 72°. The simulations and measurements compare well and show similar cosine anisotropy for the angular distribution. Finally, the study thus shows that the neutron background response in detector systems can be efficiently and accurately simulated using the procedures described.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Nonproliferation and Verification Research and Development (NA-22); National Science Foundation (NSF); US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- NA0002534
- OSTI ID:
- 1365717
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 777, Issue C; ISSN 0168-9002
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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