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Title: Systematic measurement of fast neutron background fluctuations in an urban area using a mobile detection system

Abstract

Neutron background measurements using a mobile trailer-based system were conducted in Knoxville, Tennessee. The 0.5 m2 system consisting of 8 EJ-301 liquid scintillation detectors was used to collect neutron background measurements in order to better understand the systematic background variations that depend solely on the street-level measurement position in a local, downtown area. Data was collected along 5 different streets in the downtown Knoxville area, and the measurements were found to be repeatable. Using 10-min measurements, fractional uncertainty in each measured data point was <2%. Compared with fast neutron background count rates measured away from downtown Knoxville, a reduction in background count rates ranging from 10-50% was observed in the downtown area, sometimes varying substantially over distances of tens of meters. These reductions are attributed to the shielding of adjacent buildings, quantified in part here by the metric angle-of-open-sky. The adjacent buildings may serve to shield cosmic ray neutron flux.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Department of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Department of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1162069
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725; HSHQDC-10-X-00662
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 773; Journal ID: ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; Fast neutron; Background radiation; Passive detection; Liquid scintillation detectors; Standoff detection

Citation Formats

Iyengar, Anagha, Beach, Matthew, Newby, Robert J., Fabris, Lorenzo, Heilbronn, Lawrence H., and Hayward, Jason P. Systematic measurement of fast neutron background fluctuations in an urban area using a mobile detection system. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2014.10.045.
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Iyengar, Anagha, Beach, Matthew, Newby, Robert J., Fabris, Lorenzo, Heilbronn, Lawrence H., & Hayward, Jason P. Systematic measurement of fast neutron background fluctuations in an urban area using a mobile detection system. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2014.10.045
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Iyengar, Anagha, Beach, Matthew, Newby, Robert J., Fabris, Lorenzo, Heilbronn, Lawrence H., and Hayward, Jason P. Thu . "Systematic measurement of fast neutron background fluctuations in an urban area using a mobile detection system". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2014.10.045. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1162069.
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@article{osti_1162069,
title = {Systematic measurement of fast neutron background fluctuations in an urban area using a mobile detection system},
author = {Iyengar, Anagha and Beach, Matthew and Newby, Robert J. and Fabris, Lorenzo and Heilbronn, Lawrence H. and Hayward, Jason P.},
abstractNote = {Neutron background measurements using a mobile trailer-based system were conducted in Knoxville, Tennessee. The 0.5 m2 system consisting of 8 EJ-301 liquid scintillation detectors was used to collect neutron background measurements in order to better understand the systematic background variations that depend solely on the street-level measurement position in a local, downtown area. Data was collected along 5 different streets in the downtown Knoxville area, and the measurements were found to be repeatable. Using 10-min measurements, fractional uncertainty in each measured data point was <2%. Compared with fast neutron background count rates measured away from downtown Knoxville, a reduction in background count rates ranging from 10-50% was observed in the downtown area, sometimes varying substantially over distances of tens of meters. These reductions are attributed to the shielding of adjacent buildings, quantified in part here by the metric angle-of-open-sky. The adjacent buildings may serve to shield cosmic ray neutron flux.},
doi = {10.1016/j.nima.2014.10.045},
journal = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment},
number = ,
volume = 773,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Nov 12 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Thu Nov 12 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
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Journal Article:
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2014.10.045
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