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TRP -> Campaign/Number -> TRP 06
TRP 06. Neutron Multiplicity Measurements of Target/Blanket Materials
August 2001 - December 2005
Research Objectives & Methods
A prototype modular Neutron Multiplicity Detector System (NMDS) with 64 3He gas counting tubes was developed to measure the neutron multiplicity of scaled lead accelerator targets. Its modularity allows it to be configured for a variety of experiments to measure neutron multiplicity from different sources: protons, electrons, high-energy neutrons, or even cosmic particles such as muons.
This system may be used to measure neutron production in a variety of configurations, on a variety of targets, with a variety of source particles, and over a range of energies (10 to 800 MeV) to produce a large database that may be used to validate neutron multiplicity predictions. This should enable the quantification of systematic errors in the latest version of MCNPX and its accompanying data libraries. Time-dependent measurements of neutron production in the NMDS should provide a systematic set of precise data that will enable direct comparison with code calculations.
Comparison of results from the NMDS may decrease uncertainties and allow the derivation of relative measurements in the few percent range at the 95 percent confidence level. In addition, discrepancies that are discovered with this system can contribute to the improvement of the codes and data libraries. Improved models of beam line experiments, accelerator targets, and detector designs will result from these code improvements.
Researchers
- Denis Beller, Mechanical Engineering
- Carter Hull, Mechanical Engineering
- William Johnson, Health Physics
Collaborators
- Eric Pitcher, Nuclear Physics (T-16) Group Leader, Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Alexander Rimsky-Korsavok, Director, VG Khlopin Radium Institute
- Michael Todosow, Division Head, Nuclear Science and Technology Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Thomas Ward, AFCI Science Adviser, US Department of Energy
- Stephen Wender, Nuclear Physics (LANSCE-3) Group Leader, Losa Alamos National Laboratory
Students
- Steven Curtis, Masters, Health Physics
- Shruti Patil, Masters, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Timothy Beller, Undergraduate, Mechanical Engineering
- Dean Curtis, Undergraduate, Computer Science
- Brice Howard, Undergraduate, Mechanical Engineering