A development of NRESPG Monte Carlo code for the calculation of neutron response function for gas counters

Abstract

A Monte Carlo code Neutron RESPonse function for Gas counters (NRESPG) has been developed for the calculation of neutron response functions and efficiencies for neutron energies up to 20 MeV, which can be applied for 3He, H 2, or BF 3 gas proportional counters with or without moderator. This code can simulate the neutron behavior in a two-dimensional detector configuration and treat the thermal motion of a moderator atom which becomes important as the neutron energy becomes sufficiently low. Further, a more precise measured data was taken to simulate the position-dependent gas multiplication in the sensitive and insensitive gas region of a proportional counter. The NRESPG code has been applied for the calculation of response functions of 3He cylindrical proportional counters to determine neutron energy and neutron fluence in a monoenergetic calibration field. Thus, a remarkable discrepancy in the lower portion of the full-energy peak produced by the 3He(n,p)T reaction can be removed which results in a good agreement between simulations and experiments. The code has been also used for the simulation of the response of a McTaggart-type long counter consisting of a central cylindrical BF 3 counter surrounded by a polyethylene moderator. The results of the NRESPG simulations were compared with those obtained from MCNP calculations.