Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Determining PGAA collimator plug design using Monte Carlo simulation

  • Jalil, A. (Mohammed V University of Rabat) ;
  • Chetaine, A. (Mohammed V University of Rabat) ;
  • Amsil, H. (Nuclear Centre of Energy, Science and Nuclear Techniques) ;
  • Embarch, K. (Nuclear Centre of Energy, Science and Nuclear Techniques) ;
  • Benchrif, A. (Nuclear Centre of Energy, Science and Nuclear Techniques) ;
  • Laraki, K. (Nuclear Centre of Energy, Science and Nuclear Techniques) ;
  • Marah, H. (Nuclear Centre of Energy, Science and Nuclear Techniques)
  • Received : 2019.12.10
  • Accepted : 2020.08.21
  • Published : 2021.03.25
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The aim of this work is to help inform the decision for choosing a convenient material for the PGAA (Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis) collimator plug to be installed at the tangential channel of the Moroccan Triga Mark II Research Reactor. Two families of materials are usually used for collimator construction: a mixture of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with boron, which is commonly used to moderate and absorb neutrons, and heavy materials, either for gamma absorption or for fast neutron absorption. An investigation of two different collimator designs was performed using N-Particle Monte Carlo MCNP6.2 code with the ENDF/B-VII.1 and MCLIP84 libraries. For each design, carbon steel and lead materials were used separately as collimator heavy materials. The performed study focused on both the impact on neutron beam quality and the neutron-gamma background at the exit of the collimator beam tube. An analysis and assessment of the principal findings is presented in this paper, as well as recommendations.

Keywords

References

  1. G. Molnar, Handbook of Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis: with Neutron Beams, 2004, p. 423, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-23359-8.
  2. S. Stella, Design of a Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation (PGNAA) System for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) Using Monte Carlo Code, University of Pavia, 2011 https://doi.org/978-88-95767-52-9.
  3. E. Oetjen, T. Diedrich, A. Eggers, B. Eckert, W. Knepel, Handbook of Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis with Neutron Beams, 1994, https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-1137/38/9/090001.
  4. Z. Revay, R.K. Harrison, E. Alvarez, S.R. Biegalski, S. Landsberger, Construction and characterization of the redesigned PGAA facility at the University of Texas at Austin, Nucl. Instruments Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers, Detect. Assoc. Equip. 577 (2007) 611-618, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2007.04.119.
  5. Z. Revay, T. Belgya, Z. Kasztovszky, J.L. Weil, G.L. Molnar, Cold neutron PGAA facility at Budapest, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. Mater. Atoms 213 (2004) 385-388, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-583X(03) 01653-7.
  6. The high flux isotope reactor's horizontal beam tubes, n.d. https://neutrons.ornl.gov/hfir/beam-tubes. (Accessed 2 December 2019).
  7. G. Mohammed, S. Ei-Gamal, Effects of γ-irradiation and deformation temperature on tensile properties of Pb-2 mass% Sb alloy, J. Iron Steel Res. Int. 23 (2016) 733-738, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1006-706X(16)30113-3.
  8. M. Mitev, D. Dimitrov, Z. Zahariev, A. Naydenov, Investigation of an Innovative Material for Neutron Shielding 22 (2017) 38-41.
  9. J. Armstrong, F.B. Brown, J.S. Bull, L. Casswell, L.J. Cox, D. Dixon, R.A. Forster, J.T. Goorley, H.G. Hughes, J. Favorite, R. Martz, C.C.J. Solomon, A. Zukaitis, User's Manual Code Version 6.2, (n.d.).
  10. A. Jalil, A. Chetaine, H. Amsil, K. Embarch, K. Laraki, H. Marah, Simulation of a collimator and sapphire fi lter for PGAA facility of the Moroccan TRIGA MARK II research reactor, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 150 (2019) 14-18, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.04.042.
  11. B. El Bakkari, T. El Bardouni, B. Nacir, C. El Younoussi, Y. Boulaich, H. Boukhal, M. Zoubair, Fuel burnup analysis for the Moroccan TRIGA research reactor, Ann. Nucl. Energy 51 (2013) 112-119, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2012.07.030.