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Improved fission neutron energy discrimination with 4He detectors through pulse filtering

Journal Article · · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States); University of Michigan
  2. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
  3. Arktis Radiation Detection Ltd., Zurich (Switzerland)
  4. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  5. Korean Inst. for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control, Daejeon (South Korea)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Our paper presents experimental and computational techniques implemented for 4He gas scintillation detectorsfor inducedfission neutron detection. Fission neutrons are produced when natural uranium samples are activelyinterrogated by 2.45 MeV deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction neutrons. Fission neutrons of energies greaterthan 2.45 MeV can be distinguished by their different scintillation pulse height spectra since 4He detectorsretain incident fast neutron energy information. To enable the preferential detection of fast neutrons up to10 MeV and suppress low-energy event counts, the detector photomultiplier gain is lowered and triggerthreshold is increased. Pile-up and other unreliable events due to the interrogating neutronflux and backgroundradiation arefiltered out prior to the evaluation of pulse height spectra. With these problem-specific calibrationsand data processing, the 4He detector's accuracy at discriminatingfission neutrons up to 10 MeV is improvedand verified with 252Cf spontaneousfission neutrons. Given the 4He detector's ability to differentiate fastneutron sources, this proof-of-concept active-interrogation measurement demonstrates the potential of specialnuclear materials detection using a 4He fast neutron detection system.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (NA-20)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002534
OSTI ID:
1487100
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1417095
OSTI ID: 22634513
Journal Information:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Journal Name: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment Journal Issue: C Vol. 848; ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (1)

Calculation of Particle Emissions and Fusion Cross Sections After 8 B( t ,*), 9 B( t ,*), and 10 B( t ,*) Reactions by Monte Carlo Simulations journal February 2020

Figures / Tables (18)

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Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
active interrogation
helium-4
special nuclear material