Neutron energy spectra unfolding from foil activation detector measurements with minuit

Abstract

A method for unfolding neutron energy spectra from foil activation measurements using the multiparameter function minimisation routine minuit of Cernlib has been developed. It is based on the expansion of the neutron energy distribution on a set of parameters that are fitted to minimise the square sum of differences between the measured and calculated activities under smoothness and shape constraints. A modified square sum of differences expression weighted by each activation detector response contribution over the whole neutron energy range is proposed and compared with the classical square sum formulation. The proposed unfolding procedure is first illustrated by a set of 15 detectors to simulate reaction rates calculated using a typical neutron reactor energy spectrum. The demonstration of the proposed method is next achieved using measured reaction rates of the Arkansas Nuclear One power plant (ANO) benchmark spectrum of the Neutron Metrology File (NMF-90). Results of the proposed method were compared with those obtained by STAYNL and MSANDB unfolding codes using the same input data and were found in good agreement with the measured activities. The developed procedure is found to have an interesting advantage in unfolding neutron energy distribution in cases of a lack of information on the a priori solution. This has been illustrated by unfolding the JOYO MK-II fast breeder reactor neutron spectrum, using a set of experimental activation rates without a guess solution.