Estimating the mass variance in neutron multiplicity counting $$-$$ A comparison of approaches
- Nuclear Research Center Negev (NRCN), Beer Sheva (Israel)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Inst. of Transuranium Elements, Ispra (Italy). Nuclear Security Unit
In the standard practice of neutron multiplicity counting, the first three sampled factorial moments of the event triggered neutron count distribution are used to quantify the three main neutron source terms: the spontaneous fissile material effective mass, the relative (α,n) production and the induced fission source responsible for multiplication. This study compares three methods to quantify the statistical uncertainty of the estimated mass: the bootstrap method, propagation of variance through moments, and statistical analysis of cycle data method. Each of the three methods was implemented on a set of four different NMC measurements, held at the JRC-laboratory in Ispra, Italy, sampling four different Pu samples in a standard Plutonium Scrap Multiplicity Counter (PSMC) well counter.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Office of Nonproliferation Research and Development (NA-22)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1392875
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-17-22890; TRN: US1702589
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 875, Issue C; ISSN 0168-9002
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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