Measurement and evaluation of neutron spectra above 0.1 MeV in the JMTR

Abstract

The evaluation of fast neutron spectra from the Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR) have been performed by using the critical facility of the JMTR and by a combination of the multi-foil activation method and the adjustment codes (SAND II and NEUPAC). In order to measure and evaluate the neutron spectra above 0.1 MeV, resonance detectors such as manganese, gold and copper have been used to determine the neutron flux level in the 1 E region and threshold detectors such as silver, rhodium, indium, uranium, aluminum, magnesium and titanium have been used to determine the neutron flux level above 0.1 MeV. The foils for the measurement of the neutron reaction rate were separately irradiated. The 115In(n,n′) 115mIn reaction is used for the monitoring of the average fast neutron flux in the irradiation period, and the slight difference of each irradiation condition was corrected. The guess spectra for the neutron spectrum adjustment were calculated by using the one-dimensional discrete-ordinates code ANISN with the slab model for the JMTR core. Some important points were concluded through the adjustment procedure of the neutron spectrum: the adjusted spectrum from 0.1 to 1 MeV depends on the accuracy of the neutron cross section data for the threshold detectors such as silver and rhodium, and also on the accuracy of these reaction rates. The ratios of neutron flux above 0.183 MeV to neutron flux above 1 MeV were calculated from the guess spectra and the adjusted spectra, and the ratios were in good agreement with each other.