Abstract

The theory and method of the pulsed neutron source (PNS) method measuring the prompt neutron decay constant α0 of a subcritical system was introduced. Using the Monte Carlo code JMCT, the neutron transport process in a Godiva-like subcritical facility was simulated. The α0 value of the facility was obtained with PNS method, and was compared with the α-k power iteration result. To investigate the factors affecting the calculated α0 value of the PNS method, the system response, the fitting residual distributions, and the neutron energy spectra of different time intervals were analyzed. It is observed that the statistical fluctuation is the key factor leading to the inaccuracy of the α0 calculation value of the facility. Furthermore, to obtain an effective α0 value with the PNS method, the reasonable width of fitting time window was discussed by analyzing the relationship of the calculated α0 values and the fitting time width in this paper.

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