Characterization of a mixed high-energy spallation neutron–proton field using monoisotopic activation detectors

Zavorka, Lukas; Vrzalova, Jitka; Zeman, Miroslav; Adam, Jindrich; Caloun, Pavel; Chudoba, Petr; Furman, Walter I.; Katovsky, Karel; Khushvaktov, Jurabek; Solnyshkin, Alexander A.; Suchopar, Martin; Tichy, Pavel; Tsoupko-Sitnikov, Vsevolod M.; Tyutyunnikov, Sergey I.; Vespalec, Radek; Wagner, Vladimir

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2018.07.009

Title: Characterization of a mixed high-energy spallation neutron–proton field using monoisotopic activation detectors

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Abstract

In this paper, we used monoisotopic Co, Au, and Bi threshold activation detectors to characterize the high-energy ( $> 5$ MeV) portion of a mixed spallation neutron–proton (n/p) field. The field was produced by irradiating the natural uranium target–blanket subcritical assembly Quinta with 660-MeV protons from Phasotron accelerator at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. Experimental yields of the (n,x) and (p,x) reactions were compared to the calculated reaction rates, which represent the convolution of particle flux and reaction cross section. The flux was simulated using the radiation transport code MCNPX 2.7.0, and the cross sections were extracted from the following three sources: the intranuclear cascade model INCL4.2, the phenomenological spherical optical model from TALYS-1.8, and the evaluated nuclear data file TENDL-2015. We show that, in most cases, the evaluated data provide a closer agreement with the experimental data in comparison with INCL4.2 model, which is an integral part of MCNPX. Finally, our results bring a contribution to those fields of physics research that utilize computer prediction of neutron generation in the energy range of tens to hundreds MeV, such as the medical radioisotope production, radiation shielding of spallation neutron sources, and nuclear transmutation in accelerator-driven systems.

Authors:

Zavorka, Lukas ^[1]; Vrzalova, Jitka ^[2]; Zeman, Miroslav ^[3]; Adam, Jindrich ^[3]; Caloun, Pavel ^[4]; Chudoba, Petr ^[5]; Furman, Walter I. ^[4]; Katovsky, Karel ^[6]; Khushvaktov, Jurabek ^[4]; Solnyshkin, Alexander A. ^[4]; Suchopar, Martin ^[5]; Tichy, Pavel ^[7]; Tsoupko-Sitnikov, Vsevolod M. ^[4]; Tyutyunnikov, Sergey I. ^[4]; Vespalec, Radek ^[8]; Wagner, Vladimir ^[5]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); Nuclear Physics Inst. of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Řež (Czech Republic)
Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); Brno Univ. of Technology (Czech Republic)
Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation)
Nuclear Physics Inst. of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Řež (Czech Republic)
Brno Univ. of Technology (Czech Republic)
Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); Nuclear Physics Inst. of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Řež (Czech Republic); Czech Technical Univ., Prague (Czech Republic)
Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); Czech Technical Univ., Prague (Czech Republic)

Publication Date:: 2018-07-05

Research Org.:: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE; Ministry of Finances (Czech Republic); Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Czech Republic); Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research (JINR) (Czech Republic)

OSTI Identifier:: 1459836

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-18-23763
Journal ID: ISSN 0168-9002; TRN: US1901811

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396; LO1210; LTT18021

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: 903; Journal ID: ISSN 0168-9002

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; spallation neutron generation; threshold activation detectors; MCNPX simulation

Citation Formats


                    Zavorka, Lukas, Vrzalova, Jitka, Zeman, Miroslav, Adam, Jindrich, Caloun, Pavel, Chudoba, Petr, Furman, Walter I., Katovsky, Karel, Khushvaktov, Jurabek, Solnyshkin, Alexander A., Suchopar, Martin, Tichy, Pavel, Tsoupko-Sitnikov, Vsevolod M., Tyutyunnikov, Sergey I., Vespalec, Radek, and Wagner, Vladimir. Characterization of a mixed high-energy spallation neutron–proton field using monoisotopic activation detectors.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.nima.2018.07.009.

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                    Zavorka, Lukas, Vrzalova, Jitka, Zeman, Miroslav, Adam, Jindrich, Caloun, Pavel, Chudoba, Petr, Furman, Walter I., Katovsky, Karel, Khushvaktov, Jurabek, Solnyshkin, Alexander A., Suchopar, Martin, Tichy, Pavel, Tsoupko-Sitnikov, Vsevolod M., Tyutyunnikov, Sergey I., Vespalec, Radek, & Wagner, Vladimir. Characterization of a mixed high-energy spallation neutron–proton field using monoisotopic activation detectors.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.07.009

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                    Zavorka, Lukas, Vrzalova, Jitka, Zeman, Miroslav, Adam, Jindrich, Caloun, Pavel, Chudoba, Petr, Furman, Walter I., Katovsky, Karel, Khushvaktov, Jurabek, Solnyshkin, Alexander A., Suchopar, Martin, Tichy, Pavel, Tsoupko-Sitnikov, Vsevolod M., Tyutyunnikov, Sergey I., Vespalec, Radek, and Wagner, Vladimir. Thu .  
"Characterization of a mixed high-energy spallation neutron–proton field using monoisotopic activation detectors".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.07.009.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1459836.

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@article{osti_1459836,

  title        = {Characterization of a mixed high-energy spallation neutron–proton field using monoisotopic activation detectors},

  author       = {Zavorka, Lukas and Vrzalova, Jitka and Zeman, Miroslav and Adam, Jindrich and Caloun, Pavel and Chudoba, Petr and Furman, Walter I. and Katovsky, Karel and Khushvaktov, Jurabek and Solnyshkin, Alexander A. and Suchopar, Martin and Tichy, Pavel and Tsoupko-Sitnikov, Vsevolod M. and Tyutyunnikov, Sergey I. and Vespalec, Radek and Wagner, Vladimir},

  abstractNote = {In this paper, we used monoisotopic Co, Au, and Bi threshold activation detectors to characterize the high-energy (>5 MeV) portion of a mixed spallation neutron–proton (n/p) field. The field was produced by irradiating the natural uranium target–blanket subcritical assembly Quinta with 660-MeV protons from Phasotron accelerator at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. Experimental yields of the (n,x) and (p,x) reactions were compared to the calculated reaction rates, which represent the convolution of particle flux and reaction cross section. The flux was simulated using the radiation transport code MCNPX 2.7.0, and the cross sections were extracted from the following three sources: the intranuclear cascade model INCL4.2, the phenomenological spherical optical model from TALYS-1.8, and the evaluated nuclear data file TENDL-2015. We show that, in most cases, the evaluated data provide a closer agreement with the experimental data in comparison with INCL4.2 model, which is an integral part of MCNPX. Finally, our results bring a contribution to those fields of physics research that utilize computer prediction of neutron generation in the energy range of tens to hundreds MeV, such as the medical radioisotope production, radiation shielding of spallation neutron sources, and nuclear transmutation in accelerator-driven systems.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.nima.2018.07.009},

  journal      = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment},

  number       = ,

  volume       = 903,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2018},

  month        = {7}

}

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