Studying the Thermal Neutron Spectrum of the W–Be Photoneutron Source at the Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

The possibility is considered of reconstructing the thermal neutron flux density of a W–Be photoneutron source via neutron activation analysis of Ag, Mg, Fe, Mn, and Ti samples. The use of a simple function in the form AE^−B describing the thermal region of the spectrum is discussed as an example of reconstruction. The dependence of the reaction rates’ deviation from the ones calculated on the parameters of the approximating function is investigated. The convergence of the reconstruction results as the number of experimental data grows is obtained. This means of recovery can be used for operational measurements of the thermal neutron flux density of the photoneutron source and to optimize the parameters of the source.