CALIBRATION OF THE T(d,n)He$sup 4$ YIELD FROM THE NUCLEAR DEFENSE LABORATORY'S POSITIVE ION ACCELERATOR

Technical Report · Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1962

OSTI ID:4755835

Thomas, D; Goshorn, Jr, J C

The Cockcroft-Walton Positive Ion Accelerator, installed at U. S. Army Nuclear Defense Laboratory, Army Chemical Center, Maryland with a maximum energy of 780 kev, is capable of producins neutron or gamma reactions, or of providirg a direct beam of approximately one milliampere of low Z nuclei. The T(d,n)He/sup 4/ reaction which produces 14-Mev neutrons and 3.5-Mev alpha particles is considered. Two methods were used to measure the neutron flux at a given point. The first method employed the use of a flux measuring device known as a long counter. The second method calculated the neutron flux at a given point from a knowledge of the total neutron production, their angular distribution, and the distance to the point of interest. This latter technique consisted of determinlng the D-T yield by the associated alpha method. It was concluded that the long counter is most useful as a monitor of neutron production. Its use as an absolute flux measurement device required the determination of efficiency at the given energy and background neutron count rate, I/sub 0/. The empirical efficiency expression may be used to obtain flux accuracies of about plus or minus 10%. For mary experimental requirements, this is satisfactory. The alpha particles may be counted with high accuracy. The flux, however, must be calculated, and such a calculation involves assumptions. The errors involved become more important as deuteron energy increases. Counting alphas at 90 deg reduces the effect of target parameters on yield determination. For the best possible determination of numbers of neutrons, this configuration, along with low deuteron energy, should be utilized. (auth)

• Research Organization: Army Chemical Corps Nuclear Defense Lab., Army Chemical Center, Md.
• NSA Number: NSA-17-005412
• OSTI ID: 4755835
• Report Number(s): NDL-TM-6
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-63
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

PHYSICS
ALPHA PARTICLES
ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION
BACKGROUND
BEAMS
CHARGED PARTICLES
COCKCROFT- WALTON ACCELERATORS
COCKCROFT-WALTON ACCELERATORS
CONFIGURATION
COUNTERS
DEUTERON BEAMS
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY
ENERGY RANGE
ERRORS
GAMMA RADIATION
HELIUM 4
ION BEAMS
MEASURED VALUES
MONITORING
NEUTRON DETECTION
NEUTRON FLUX
NEUTRON SOURCES
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUMERICALS
PRODUCTION
PROPORTIONAL COUNTERS
STANDARDS
TARGETS
TRITIUM
VARIATIONS