A peer-reviewed journal published by K. N. Toosi University of Technology

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Radiation Application, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Reactor and Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Neutron data and cross-sections are highly regarded and are essential for developing nuclear equipment such as advanced fission and fusion reactors, accelerators, neutron shielding, physics studies, etc. The neutron cross-section should preferably be measured using a single-energy neutron beam, although the presence of a background in research reactors can affect its accurate determination. The Neutron Powder Diffraction (NPD) facility of Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) has been taken into consideration for measuring the neutron cross-section based on its properties, including neutron monochromator and multiple collimators. In this work, radiative capture cross-sections of Au, In, and Rh materials have been calculated using TRR monochromatic beam. MCNPX is a Monte Carlo particle transport code that has been applied to simulate the measurement system of the neutron cross-section and calculate the reaction rates. The effect of the presence and absence of different sections of the background on the cross-section values was investigated and the results were compared with EXFOR data library for validation. According to the findings, neutron backgrounds can have varying impacts depending on factors such as sample material, the isotope resonance regions, neutron source spatial distribution, and neutron monochromatic energy. However, the presence of fast neutron background contributes to the most uncertainty in the cross section values while its removal produces an average discrepancy from experimental libraries of 7.16%. Also, removing the cold neutron background also causes a relative difference equal to 7.65%.

Highlights

  • Flux distribution and its effect on the numerical value of the cross-section has been investigated.
  • Neutron Powder Diffraction facility of Tehran Research Reactor were considered as a neutron source.
  • Background effects on the calculated cross-sections were compared to the results of the EXFOR data library.
  • Foils of gold, indium, and rhodium have been used as the samples irradiated by monochromatic neutron beam.

Keywords

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