NUEN 605

Laboratory #7: Neutron Detection

By
Ashraf Alfandi
Lab Partner: Joseph Sackman & Trevor Parker

Analysis

Question (1)

The 252Cf decays (3% of the time) by spontaneous fission, in which 3.7 neutrons

(average) are emitted. The produced fast neutrons have to be thermalized in order to be detected

by 3He and BF3 detectors. This is because 3He and 10B have high neutron absorption cross

section (σa) in the thermal energy region (Eth ~ 0.035 eV). Polyethylene (PE) slabs were placed

between the detector and the source as a moderation material (see Figure 1). The counts were

recorded for 10 s using the CANBERA Counter/Timer, the data is shown in Table 1. The counts

rate (R) and its uncertainty (𝜎𝜎𝑅𝑅 ) were calculated according to Eq. 1 and 2, as follows:

C
R= t
(Eq. 1)

√C
σR = (Eq. 2)
t

Where,

C: Number of counts

t: Recording time = 10 seconds.

Table 1. 252Cf data at different polyethylene thicknesses between the detector and the neutron
source.

PE Thickness Number Count Rate, R Efficiency

σR (s-1) σε
(in) of Counts (s-1) (ε)
0 1787 178.7 4.23 2.02×10-3 ± 2.07×10-4
1 2570 257.0 5.07 2.90×10-3 ± 2.96×10-4
2 2969 296.9 5.45 3.35×10-3 ± 3.41×10-4
3 2478 247.8 4.98 2.80×10-3 ± 2.86×10-4

1
 Figure 1. Test configuration. The PE slabs were place between the detector and the neutron
source.

The moderation thickness effect on the detection efficiency was investigated, by

calculating the detector efficiency at different moderation thicknesses (Eq. 3). The uncertainty in

the detector efficiency was calculated according to Eq. 4. The calculations were performed using

Excel software; the results are as shown in Table 1 and plotted as in Figure 2. The source decay

was accounted for using Eq. 5.

𝑅𝑅
ε= S
(Eq. 3)

𝜎𝜎 2 𝜎𝜎 2
𝜎𝜎ε = ε × �� 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅� + � 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 � (Eq. 4)

S = So × e-λT (Eq. 5)

2
where,

S: the source strength

σS = 0.1 × S

So = 2.3×106, given by the instructor.

λ: the 252Cf decay constant equals 0.27 years

T: the decay time equals 12.22 years (since 9th August 2005)

According to Figure 2, the detector efficiency increases with the thickness of

polyethylene, which means that the efficiency is increasing with moderation. However, the

efficiency values at 1 and 2 inches thick are statistically the same. This means that the efficiency

was not increasing upon PE addition. Moreover, the efficiency tends to decrease for larger

amount of moderation, because the neutron absorption increase, which decreases the number of

detected neutron and hence decrease detector efficiency.

0.40%

0.35%

0.30%
Efficiency (%)

0.25%

0.20%
y = -1E-04x3 + 7E-05x2 + 0.0009x + 0.002
0.15% R² = 1

0.10%

0.05%

0.00%
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
PE Thickness (in)

Figure 2. Detector efficiency (%) as a function of PE thickness (in).

3
Question (2)

The same measurement was conducted, where the PE slaps were placed behind the

detector as seen in Figure 3. The moderating material behind detector reflects the unscattered

neutrons, which increase the population of the neutrons near the detector, and hence increase the

detection efficiency (see Figure 4). It was noted that the recorded number of counts was larger

comparing to the first measurement (see Table 2).

Figure 3. Test configuration. The 3” PE slabs were placed behind the detector.

Table 2. 252Cf data at different polyethylene thickness behind the detector.

PE Thickness Number Count Rate, R Efficiency

σR (s-1) σε
(in) of Counts -1
(s ) (ε)
1 3162 316.2 5.62 3.57×10-3 ± 3.63×10-4
2 4837 483.7 6.95 5.47×10-3 ± 5.52×10-4
3 4774 477.4 6.91 5.39×10-3 ± 5.45×10-4

4
 0.70%

0.60%

0.50%
Efficiency (%)

0.40%

0.30% y = -0.0004x3 + 0.0013x2 + 0.0006x + 0.002

R² = 1

0.20%

0.10%

0.00%
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
PE Thickness (in)

Figure 4. Detector efficiency as a function of PE thickness (in).

It was noted that the detector efficiency was affected by the thickness of moderation

material. The 1 inch-thick material, was not enough to get the neutrons thermalized, which result

in lower detector efficiency. However, the detector efficiency increased with moderation

thickness.

Question (3)

The 3He has higher absorption (σa) than 10B, which reflects the higher efficiency of the
3
He detector over the BF3 detectors. Figure 4 shows that both of the two detectors shares the

same behavior of the moderation thickness effect on the efficiency. However, it should be

mentioned that the BF3 detectors are cheaper and hence more affordable. The 3He production is

very small compared to the demand, which justifies the high prices of 3He detectors.

5
 0.40%
y = -1E-04x3 + 7E-05x2 + 0.0009x + 0.002
R² = 1
0.35%

0.30%

0.25%
Effeciency (%)

0.20%
He Detector

0.15% BF3 Detector

0.10%
y = -7E-06x3 - 0.0003x2 + 0.001x + 0.0007
R² = 1
0.05%

0.00%
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
PE Thickness (in)

Figure 5. The efficiency of the BF3 detector vs 3He detector at different PE thicknesses.

Question (4)

The new configuration (Figure 6 and 7) was meant to reflect as many neutron as it could

and minimizes the neutron leakage, which in turn would increase the neutron population near the

detector. It was found that the recorded number of counts increased by order of five to six, see

Table 3. Moreover, the detector efficiency increased to be 2.12% compared to 0.3 – 0.55% for

the previous configurations.

Table 3.252Cf data for optimum configuration.

Number Count Rate, R Efficiency

σR (s-1) σε
of Counts (s-1) (ε)
18764 1876.4 23.73 2.12×10-2 ± 0.214×10-2

6
 Figure 6. Moderation PE slabs Optimum configuration. One 2” PE slab were placed in all
directions except in front where two 2” inches were added.

Figure 7. Moderation PE slabs optimum configuration. One more 2” PE slab was placed on the
top.