The neutron radiography group at the Physics Institute III B, RWTH Aachen University, develops a multi-pixel camera for fast neutron radiography using an AmBe neutron source or a neutron generator.
So far, two camera prototypes were built: A single-pixel prototype and a 16-pixel camera. Both prototypes use stilbene scintillator cuboids of size 5x5x25 mm³ for neutron detection. The created...
Phoenix LLC has designed and is currently constructing the Phoenix Neutron Imaging Center (PNIC) in Fitchburg, WI. Phoenix has a well-established history of developing and deploying the world’s strongest deuterium-deuterium accelerator-based compact neutron sources with continuous operation measured at over 5×10^11 n/s for over 100 consecutive hours. The new facility, which will house a newly...
With the support of an international agency, [NeutronOptics Grenoble][1] has developed a [compact neutron camera for fast neutron tomography][2] using a PSI/RC-TriTec PP scintillator. This scintillator can be exchanged in-situ for thermal neutron or gamma scintillators to test for these beam components. The FOV with a [cooled 16-bit 1" Sony CCD][4] is 125x100 mm or 85x70 mm with 2750x2200...
Neutrons are/can be used in several applications such as material science, medical science, non-destructive investigation, security, neutron radiography and maintenance of social infrastructures such as bridge and tunnel. To detect the fast neutrons, gaseous detectors (3He, 10B) and neutron scintillators (H, 6Li, 10B) can be used in such fields....
The Ohio State University Research Reactor (OSURR) is a pool type, light water moderated, uranium silicide fueled research reactor licensed for steady-state operating powers up to 500kWth. It provides a variety of functional testing facilities including near-core and in-core irradiation locations. A thermal neutron beam facility is available at OSURR, providing a small neutron beam ( 30 mm...
Neutron beamlines of the Materials and Life science experimental Facility (MLF) utilizes short-pulsed neutrons produced by 3-GeV proton beam irradiation at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). The most probable energy of neutrons produced in spallation reactions is around ~ MeV although high energy neutrons up to ~ GeV are also produced. Two beamlines, NOBORU and RADEN, are...
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is near-completion of a quasi-monoenergetic neutron source for fast-neutron imaging. The source is expected to produce 10-MeV neutrons with an on-axis flux of ~1011 per second per steradian through a collimated aperture with a ~7-degree opening angle. The application for this source is imaging of low-Z materials heavily shielded by high-Z...
In 1990, seven research reactors (FRM I, RFR, FRG-1, FRJ2, FRG 2, FMRB, BER II) have been in operation for the field of neutron science in Germany. Since that time, five facilities have been decommissioned with one more (BER II) to be shut down by the end of 2019. Because of this trend of neutron sources going offline in Germany, it is becoming more and more difficult to train staff, to...
It has long been recognized that neutrons can compliment x-rays for imaging. This is due to their very different attenuation characteristics based on nuclear cross-section, which allows imaging of low Z materials through higher Z materials. Additionally one can use energy dependent Time of Flight
(ToF) imaging to exploit phenomenon like nuclear resonances for isotope and element specific...
Neutron imaging has matured towards a powerful tool for non-destructive testing, but also for many other kinds for research domains.
Majority of facilities for neutron imaging are using neutrons in the thermal and cold spectrum (similar to neutron scattering devices) because of their availability at the large-scale facilities,. The advantage of using thermal and cold neutrons is the wide...
NECTAR is a superior beam-line with access to fission neutrons for non-destructive inspection of large and dense objects, where thermal neutrons or X-rays face limitations due to their comparatively low penetration. With the production of fission neutrons at the instrument [1], as well as neutrons interacting with beamline geometry, such as the collimator, gamma rays are produced in the...
By the use of fast neutrons dense or large materials can be analysed by Radiography and computed tomography. Motivated by James F. Hunter from Los Alamos National Laboratory, we (RC Tritec AG) evaluated in 2016 in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute (Germany) a production process for manufacturing large sized (450 x 450 mm) ZnS filled PP-plates for conversion of fast neutrons into...
A new generation of the Lintech's neutron imaging device is under development, extending the capabilities of the previously patented solution [1]. Our device implements general design of the fast neutron imager, previously demonstrated spatial resolution just under 0.5 mm [2]. It operates in the event-by-event readout mode, acquiring energy, timing, and pulse shape information for all...
Various technologies have been developed to this date for the detection of fast neutrons, each having certain advantages and limitations at the same time. There is no one single device, which meets all the requirements of various experiments where fast neutrons have to be detected. Detectors with microchannel plates (MCPs), which were initially developed for the applications with very low...
Experiments conducted at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) measured the performance of prototype fast neutron scintillator screens with various scintillator materials deposited in a range of thicknesses on high density polyethylene (HDPE) of varying thickness. The HDPE acts as a converter for the fast neutrons, utilizing a proton recoil reaction to cause the scintillator material to emit...
Presented are fast neutron radiography, based on fast (2.5 MeV DD and 14 MeV DT) fusion-based, Adelphi neutron generators. Radiography experiments at LLNL with Adelphi 14 MeV source under a DARPA program are presented. Also reported are experiments Associated Particle Imaging (API) using a 14 MeV DT neutron generator, which provide a spatial map of the isotope composition of the fast neutron...
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and collaborators have pioneered a novel short duration yet extremely intense neutron source using the short-pulse laser at LANL's Trident laser facility [1-5]. The Trident laser facility was until it’s closure in 2016 one of the most intense and powerful short-pulse lasers in the world, providing a very high contrast laser pulse of ~600 fs in duration,...
In collaboration between ETH Zurich (Laboratory of Nuclear Energy Systems) and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, fast neutron imaging techniques are actively developed. This includes a custom D-D fast neutron generator with a small emitting spot (~2 mm) and an output of about 3E7 neutrons/s. It is equipped with a rotating beam target in order to manage high power density at the...
Prototype scintillator screens were fabricated in various formats and variations, and tested with fast neutrons from a D-T neutron generator at Adelphi Technology in Redwood City, CA. The scintillators were designed with combinations of plastics+scintillator in which the hydrogen in the plastic acts as a converter for the fast neutrons producing a proton recoil reaction to yield photons within...
At MLZ, we have three different methods using cold, thermal, and fast neutrons for the determination of the elemental composition in various samples. (1) Cold neutrons are guided to the Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) facility in the Neutron Guide Hall West. The PGAA method is based on the measurement of the prompt gamma radiation released during the de-excitation of the compound...
The low flux neutron source AKR-2
Nico Bernt, Carsten Lange, Rico Hübscher
Institute of Power Engineering, Chair of Hydrogen and Nuclear Energy
University of Technology Dresden
D-01062 Dresden
Tel./Fax: +49-351-463 33831, email: nico.bernt@tu-dresden.de, carsten.lange@tu-dresden.de
Abstract
In 1990, 7 research reactors have been in operation in Germany for the field of neutron...
