PHOTON SPECTRA IN NPL STANDARD RADIONUCLIDE NEUTRON FIELDS

Comparison of H*(10) estimations, due to neutrons and γ-rays, around FANT with two 241Am/9Be sources

FANT (Fuente Ampliada de Neutrones Térmicos; in Spanish) is a thermal neutron irradiation facility with an extended and very uniform irradiation area, which has been developed by the Neutron Measurement Laboratory of the Energy Engineering Department at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (LMN-UPM). In FANT, an isotopic neutron source (241Am/9Be) produces the primary neutrons. The design and facility optimization were carried out by extensive Monte Carlo calculations. In addition, Monte Carlo methods were used to evaluate the facility's performance to produce a constant and uniform thermal neutron field; these results were validated through experimental methods. FANT is designed to have two neutron sources; the objective of this work is to estimate the ambient dose equivalent due to neutrons and gamma-rays by Monte Carlo methods, and to compare these values with measured experimental doses. Thus, the performance of FANT with the two 241Am/9Be sources of LMN-UPM, with regard to the ambient dose equivalent H*(10) produced by both neutrons and photons around the facility, is analyzed in this work. The results are compared with those previously obtained in the framework of the results obtained with the LB6411 device around FANT.

Photon spectra in NPL standard monoenergetic neutron fields

A High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector has been used to measure the photon spectra in the majority of monoenergetic neutron fields produced at NPL (0.144, 0.250, 0.565, 2.0, 5.0 and 16.5 MeV). The HPGe was characterised and then modelled to produce a response matrix. The measured pulse height spectra were then unfolded to produce photon fluence spectra. The new spectra were used to improve the photon to neutron dose equivalent ratios from some earlier work at NPL with Geiger-Muller tubes and electronic personal dosemeters.