Computational evaluation of a two-source neutron irradiator

Authors

  • Jayms Sagana ⋅ PH Department of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and Sciences, Mapúa University
  • Emerald Ramos ⋅ PH Department of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and Sciences, Mapúa University
  • Alvie Astronomo ⋅ PH Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Nuclear Research Institute
  • Cheri Anne Dingle ⋅ PH Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Nuclear Research Institute

Abstract

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) is currently establishing the Neutron Irradiation Facility (NIF) which features two legacy plutonium beryllium (239PuBe) neutron sources with source strengths of 3.6×106 n/s and 1.8×106 n/s. In this paper, a PHITS (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport Code System) computational model was developed based on the existing MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) LUNIS file provided by PNRI. The PHITS model was then used to optimize a configuration for NAA applications by maximizing the total fluence and its thermal neutron component. It was determined that the optimal thickness for the HDPE was 5.4 cm, providing the highest distribution of thermal neutron flux with minimal absorption by the moderator. At this thickness, a significant thermal neutron flux of 6.4×103 n/cm2s is achieved, representing 58.24% of the total neutron flux. The configuration allows the maximum contribution of thermal neutrons while also maximizing the total number of neutrons in the irradiation location.

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Article ID

SPP-2024-3B-03

Section

High Energy and Nuclear Physics

Published

2024-06-26

How to Cite

[1]
J Sagana, E Ramos, A Astronomo, and CA Dingle, Computational evaluation of a two-source neutron irradiator, Proceedings of the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas 42, SPP-2024-3B-03 (2024). URL: https://proceedings.spp-online.org/article/view/SPP-2024-3B-03.