Characterisation of the neutron sources in use at STUK SSDL through a new transfer instrument with spectrometric capabilities

Abstract

Characterising neutron sources for calibration or generic testing purposes is a complex task, as the neutron spectrum may depend, to some extent, on the construction characteristics of the source. Bonner spheres (BS) are the traditional spectrometric transfer instruments, but they are very sensitive to room scatter and required measurements are highly time consuming. The recently developed NCT-WES device, belonging to the family of the Single Moderator Neutron Spectrometers, has been proposed as a convenient alternative to BS. This work presents the results of a demonstration campaign organised at the STUK neutron metrology laboratory (Finland) in July 2023, where the spectra from two 252Cf and two 241Am-Be sources were determined. For the 241Am-Be sources, the results were compared to the spectra of two categories recently introduced by ISO 8529-1. Based on the results it was concluded that the “large” source category is an appropriate selection for STUK sources. The campaign also proved the operational advantages of NCT-WES as spectrometric transfer instrument.