Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Fission ionization chamber »

Solutions of the partial neutron transport equations, being components of the neutron flux density, which is usually measured by ionization chambers, would seem to not be fixed experimentally. But ionization chambers can be created on the basis of various fissile materials, including those having a threshold fission cross section, which is used in experiments on active reactors to “filter” the signal from the background, when, for example, the signal in the chamber is used only on the basis of high-energy neutrons eliminate taking into account the ionization of the gas medium in the ionization chamber from gamma-quanta, i.e. exclude the background. Such ionization chambers include cameras based on the use of 232Th, 238U, 236U, 237Np, 234U with a fission threshold energy of 1.5, 1.3, 0.70, 0.32 and 0.26 MeV, respectively. Together with the use of a 235U non-threshold chamber, these chambers offer the possibility of obtaining some experimental estimates of the partial solutions of the neutron transport equations in a fast neutron reactor. At the same time, the use of a threshold ionization chamber that records only a fraction of the neutrons from their full spectrum during a non-stationary process in a reactor with a change in the fraction of delayed neutrons in it, i.e. amplification of one or another part of the neutron spectrum may not fully take into account these changes and, thus, increase the measurement error. The possibility of estimating the magnitude of such an error is given by partial solutions of the neutron transport equations.

The question of the spatial distribution of ion pairs created by 235U fission fragments in the active volume of the fission chamber has been studied. The formulas of the spatial distribution of ion pairs in cylindrical fission chambers are proposed, which allows you to evaluate correctly the density of ion pairs in any point in the sensitive volume of the fission chamber

The University of New Mexico Fission Spectrometer was developed to measure fission product yield, as part of the LANL SPIDER collaboration. The spectrometer operates as an E-v detector to extract product mass event-by-event, with a time of flight region followed by an ionization chamber for kinetic energy measurements. By using the ionization chamber as a singlecathode/single-anode time projection chamber, stopping power and thus Z information is extracted, for coupled A and Z measurements. New work is being performed to add gamma ray detectors in the data stream, placed near the target region for prompt gammas and near the ionization chamber for quasiprompt (>50 ns) and later gammas, correlated with individual fission products. A stand-alone parallel plate ionization chamber (PPIC) is also being developed for fission tagging gamma ray data. The PPIC will also allow discrimination between charged particle out events and (n,n’γ), and discriminate between alpha emission and fission. Using layers in the PPIC, other targets can be measured simultaneously with a calibration target, giving relative fission cross sections. Past measurements with the spectrometer were performed at LANSCE and we plan to continue measurements there. The current work is supported by the NNSA Stewardship Science Academic Alliance.

In this paper, we report recent results obtained in the development of digital pulse processing mathematics for prompt fission neutron (PFN) investigations using a twin ionization chamber (TIC) along with a fast neutron time-of-flight detector (ND). Due to some ambiguities in the literature concerning a pulse induction on TIC electrodes by fission fragment (FF) ionization, we first presented a detailed mathematical analysis of FF signal formation on the TIC anode. The analysis was done using the Shockley–Ramo theorem, which gives the relation between charged particle motion between TIC electrodes and the so-called weighting potential. The weighting potential was calculated by direct numerical solution of the Laplace equation (neglecting space charge) for the TIC geometry and ionization caused by FFs. Formulae for GI correction and digital pulse processing algorithms for PFN time-of-flight measurements and pulse shape analysis are presented and used in experiments for PFN investigations of two reactions, [Formula: see text]U(n[Formula: see text],f) and [Formula: see text]Cf(sf). Results of the measurements were compared to literature data to demonstrate the feasibility of the new developed techniques. These results were necessary for the development of a new PFN investigation facility consisting of a position sensitive fission fragment detector combined with 32 liquid scintillation neutron detectors.

This paper discusses a variety of fission neutron yield measurement method, a D-T / D-D neutron yield monitoring of U-238 fission ionization chamber measuring system, the application of spontaneous decay of U-238 α-particles for initial debugging of the system. At different voltage on the α-particle energy spectrum and α particle counts were measured, given the U-238 fission chamber curve to determine the U-238 fission chamber measurement system the best operating parameters.

Different aspects of the nuclear fission process have been studied at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) using various instruments and experimental techniques. Properties of the fragments emitted in fission have been investigated using Frisch-grid ionization chambers, a Time Projection Chamber (TPC), and the SPIDER instrument which employs the 2v-2E method. These instruments and experimental techniques have been used to determine fission product mass yields, the energy dependent total kinetic energy (TKE) release, and anisotropy in neutron-induced fission of U-235, U-238 and Pu-239.

In this article, we report the recent achievements in the design of a back-to-back twin ionization chamber (TIC) for fission fragment (FF) mass, kinetic energy, and orientation. Correlated FF kinetic energies, their masses, and the angle of the fission axes in 3D Cartesian coordinates can be determined from analysis of the heights and shapes of the pulses induced by the FFs on the anodes of the TIC. These anodes were designed to consist of isolated [Formula: see text]-shaped strips connected to nodes of a chain filter made of serially-connected two-port networks. The double charge division method was implemented by digitizing four waveforms at the endpoints of the chain filters. It was shown that the fission fragments emission point on the target plane may be determined using the measured data. A position-sensitive neutron-induced fission detector for neutron imaging applications with both thermal and low energy neutrons was found as another possible implementation of the designed TIC. Preliminary measurements with thermal neutron-induced fission were done with RC chain filters and the results are reported here.

A recent set-up of a multi-cathode Frisch-grid ionization chamber and experimental results of a proof-of-principle experiment are presented. Preliminary data on the obtained polar angular and mass distributions as well as total kinetic energy of fission fragments produced in neutron-induced fission of 232Th and 238U are discussed that show that the chamber has been operated successfully. For the additional measurement of the azimuthal angular distribution, a design of segmented anodes has been tested. Preliminary data do not allow a suffcient reconstruction of the azimuthal angle.

This study on the neutron-induced fission of 234U was carried out at the 7 MV Van de Graaff accelerator of IRMM in Belgium. A Twin Frisch-Grid Ionization Chamber (TFGIC) was used to study 234U(n,f) between En = 0.2 and 5.0 MeV. The reaction is important for fission modelling of the second-chance fission in 235U(n,f). The fission fragment (FF) angular-, energy and mass distributions were determined using the 2E-method highlighting especially the region of the vibrational resonance at En = 0.77 MeV. The experiment used both conventional analogue and modern digital acquisition systems in parallel. Several advantages were found in the digital case, especially a successful pile-up correction. The shielding limitations of the Frisch-grid, called "grid-inefficiency", result in an angular-dependent energy signal. The correction of this effect has been a long-standing debate and a solution was recently proposed using the Ramo-Shockley theorem. Theoretical predictions from the latter were tested and verified in this work using two different grids. Also the neutron-emission corrections as a function of excitation energy were investigated. Neutron corrections are crucial for the determination of FF masses. Recent theoretical considerations attribute the enhancement of neutron emission to the heavier fragments exclusively, contrary to the average increase assumed earlier. Both methods were compared and the impact of the neutron multiplicities was assessed. The effects found are significant and highlight the importance of further experimental and theoretical investigation. In this work, the strong angular anisotropy of 234U(n,f ) was confirmed. In addition, and quite surprisingly, the mass distribution was found to be angular-dependent and correlated to the vibrational resonances. The anisotropy found in the mass distribution was consistent with an anisotropy in the total kinetic energy (TKE), also correlated to the resonances. The experimental data were parametrized assuming fission modes based on the Multi-Modal Random Neck-Rupture model. The resonance showed an increased yield from the Standard-1 fission mode and a consistent increased TKE. The discovered correlation between the vibrational resonances and the angular-dependent mass distributions for the asymmetric fission modes may imply different outer fission-barrier heights for the two standard modes.

2008/2009
Neutron induced fission cross sections of 233U, 238U, 241Am, 243Am and 245Cm in the energy range between 500 keV and 20 MeV obtained at the n_TOF Neutron Time of Flight facility at CERN (Geneve) are presented. Fission fragments had been detected by a gas counter with good discrimination between nuclear fission products and background events. A comparison between the extracted cross sections, previous experimental results and evaluated libraries is reported.
In questa tesi sono presentate le sezoni d'urto indotte da neutroni di energia compresa tra 500 KeV e 20 MeV su 233U, 238U, 241Am, 243Am e 245Cm ottenute alla facility di tempo di volo n_TOF al CERN (Geneve). I frammenti di fissione sono stati rivelati da un contatore a gas con una buona capacit\`a di discriminare i prodotti di fissione dagli eventi di background. La tesi riporta un paragone tra le sezioni estratte, i dati sperimentali ottenuti in passato da altri gruppi e le principali librerie valutative.
1980

Cette thèse de doctorat expose l'étude la luminescence induite dans des capteurs à gaz de type chambre à fission, afin d'évaluer son utilisation pour le suivi de puissance des réacteurs nucléaires de quatrième génération comme ASTRID.Le dépôt d'énergie dans un gaz par des ions lourds produits lors de fissions nucléaires dans une chambre à fission est d'ordinaire exploité pour sa capacité à produire des charges libres, qui peuvent être détectées avec des électrodes. Cette méthode, utilisée depuis le début de l'ère atomique, n'est pas sans inconvénients, et des axes d'amélioration ont été clairement identifiés.En estimant la production d'états excités du gaz d'une chambre à fission classique, on déduit que de la lumière peut être émise en son sein, et être détectée par un photo-détecteur. L'utilisation du signal optique plutôt qu'électrique apporte une robustesse accrue aux systèmes de mesures neutroniques, insensibles au bruit électromagnétique.L'étude spectroscopique d'un plasma d'origine nucléaire dans un dispositif analytique dimensionné et conçu par nos soins permet d'enregistrer des spectres de raies d'émission caractéristiques de la scintillation du gaz. L'analyse de ses raies permet d'affirmer la supériorité de la détection optique de neutrons, car la pression et la composition du gaz de remplissage peuvent alors être estimées en ligne.Parallèlement à nos activités expérimentales, un code de simulation de la dynamique de peuplement des niveaux des plasmas froids excités par ions-lourds est développé afin d'optimiser de futurs détecteurs basés sur ce principe. Les temps caractéristiques nécessaires à la génération d'états radiatifs et la position des excitations autour d'une trace d'ionisation ont été estimés.Plusieurs prototype de capteurs de neutrons fonctionnant uniquement sur un principe optique sont exploités dans des faisceaux de neutrons froids du réacteur Orphée afin de vérifier la preuve de concept d'un tel système de mesure neutronique. Des essais dans le réacteur Cabri permettent quant à eux de quantifier la limite de détection, la linéarité et la dynamique du système.Les très bons résultats apportés par ces trois volets valident la preuve de concept de la détection passive et en ligne de neutrons, capable d'auto-diagnostic, pour des applications exigeantes en milieu difficile
This PhD thesis details the study of luminescence produced in gaseous detectors as fission chambers, to evaluate its use in 4th generation nuclear reactor power monitoring, as ASTRID.Energy deposition in the gas, from heavy-ions produced during nuclear fission in a fission chamber is usually used for its charge generation ability, that can be detected with electrodes. Such method has been used since the beginning of atomic era present disadvantages, and necessary improvements have been assessed.By estimating fission chamber gas excited states production, one can deduce intrinsic light emission, and its detection by appropriate photo-detectors. Use of an optical signal against an electric one improves dependability of a neutron flux monitoring system, immune to electromagnetic noise.Spectroscopic studies of a nuclear plasma in a self-designed analytical device allows observation of typical gas scintillation emission lines. Analysis of emission lines reinforce optical detection attraction, as pressure and gas composition can be monitored online.Alongside our experiments, a simulation code dedicated to heavy-ions induced cold-plasma excited levels population has been produced to optimise future detectors relying on optical emission. Typical times encountered for excited states generation and their position around an ionization track have been estimated.Several neutron detector prototypes based on the sole gas scintillation principle have been assessed in cold neutron beam lines of the Orphée reactor, to validate a proof of concept for neutron monitoring. Experiments on the Cabri reactor allowed quantification of detection limit, linearity and dynamic range of our system.The positive outcomes provided by these 3 lines of work validate the proof of concept of passive, on-line, and self-diagnosed neutron detection with high dependability in harsh environments

A recent sensitivity analysis done for the new generation of fast reactors [1] has shown the importance of improved cross section data for several actinides. Among them, the neutron-induced fission cross section of 240,242Pu requires a level of accuracy of 1-3% and 3-5%, respectively, from the current status of 6% and 20%. Moreover, nearly all the measurements in the literature have been done relative to 235U(n,f). Therefore, using other references samples such as 237Np or 238U will provide the scientific community with more valuable data. The work was carried out at the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (JRC-IRMM). The Van de Graaff accelerator was used for producing a quasi-monoenergetic neutron flux in the energy range of 0.3MeV to 3MeV. Protons were accelerated thanks to a potential difference. A neutron producing target was placed at the end of the beam line: 7Li(p,n)7Be or T(p,n)3He. Then, a twin Frisch-grid ionization chamber (TFGIC) was used as detector. The setup of the detector consists in a common cathode, two anodes and two grids. In the cathode the sample under study and the reference sample are placed in a back-to-back configuration. Each electrode is connected to a preamplifier, and then to a 100MHz 12 bit waveform digitizer. All raw signals are stored for an offline analysis using C++ under the ROOT framework. All the samples used were produced by the target preparation group at JRC-IRMM. The enrichment of the plutonium samples was of 99.89% for 240Pu and of 99.97% for 242Pu. The plutonium masses were chosen to minimize their alpha activity (0.8MBq for 240Pu and 0.1MBq for 242Pu). Three different reference fission cross sections were employed: 235U(n,f), 238U(n,f) and 237Np(n,f). The mass of all the reference samples used was remeasured by means of low geometry alpha counting or/and by a single grid ionization chamber. The mass uncertainty of each sample was lower than 2%. Results were obtained not only for the neutron-induced fission cross section of 240,242Pu in the region from 0.3 MeV up to 3 MeV, but for the 238U(n,f) cross section and the 237Np(n,f) cross section. The neutron flux from the Van de Graaff was characterized by means of MCNP simulations. A clear influence of the different structures between the neutron producing targets and the deposits was found, specially when the ratios measured involved a fissile sample and a threshold sample. The spontaneous fission of 240,242Pu is, as well, an important correction. Thus, this property was measured independently in this work, reaching an uncertainty lower than 1.3% for both isotopes. More corrections were due to the high electronic threshold needed to not trigger on alpha particles, the fission fragment loss due to the sample thickness, neutron emission anisotropy, etc. On average the results of the 240,242Pu(n,f) cross section are in agreement with previous experimental data, even though the trend is slightly lower than present evaluations. In the case of 242Pu(n,f) cross section the resonance-peak structure at 1.1 MeV could not be reproduced in any case. The results of the 237Np(n,f) cross section show an increase at the plateau region with respect to the ENDF/B-VII.1 evaluation in the same way as the data from Paradela (2010) [2]. The results for the 238U(n,f) cross section show a higher cross section than the ENDF evaluation but in agreement with the present JEFF 3.2 evaluation. [1] Uncertainty and target accuracy assessment for innovative systems using recent covariance data evaluations, Volume 26, 2008, OECD-NEA [2] Paradela, C. et al., Neutron-induced fission cross section of U-234 and Np-237 measured at the CERN Neutron Time-of-Flight (n_TOF) facility.,Physical Review C. 82, 3, 034601 (2010)
Un anàlisi de sensitivitat [1] recent per la nova generació de reactors ràpids va mostrar la importància de millorar les seccions eficaç de varis actínids. Entre ells, la secció eficaç de fissió per neutró induït del 240,242Pu requereix una millora en la seva precisió des d'un 6% a un 1-3% pel 240Pu i des d'un 20% a un 3-5% pel 242Pu. A més, quasi bé totes les dades experimentals disponibles a la literatura han estat determinades relatives a la secció eficaç del 235U(n,f). Per tant, la utilització d'altres isòtops com a referències, tal com el 237Np(n,f) o el 238U(n,f), proveirà a la comunitat científica amb dades valuoses. Aquest treball ha estat realitzat a l'Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (JRC-IRMM). L'accelerador Van de Graaff disponible al JRC-IRMM s'ha emprat per produir un flux de neutrons quasi mono-energètics en el rang de 0.3 MeV a 3 MeV. Els protons van ser accelerats de fer-los impactar amb una mostra de producció de neutrons: 7Li(p,n)7Be o T(p,n)3He. A continuació, una doble cambra d'ionització amb grid (TFGIC) es va emplaçar com a detector consistent en un càtode, dos ànodes i dos grids. En el càtode es situen la mostra a estudiar i la mostra de referència. Cada un dels elèctrodes és connectat a un preamplificador i, a continuació, a un digitilitzador amb una freqüència de 100 MHz i 12 bit. Les senyals originals són emmagatzemades sense cap tractament previ per a un posterior anàlisi. El tractament de dades es va realitzar mitjançant el codi de programació C++ sota el marc de ROOT. Totes les mostres emprades en aquest experiment s'han produït al grup de preparació de mostres del JRC-IRMM. L'enriquiment de les mostres de plutoni era de 99.89% pel 240Pu (0.8MBq) i del 99.97% pel 242Pu (0.1MBq). La massa de les tres mostres de referència (235U(n,f), 238U(n,f) i 237Np(n,f)) també va ser mesurada. La incertesa de cada massa és inferior al 2%. La principal correcció aplicaca als resultats obtinguts ha estat per la caracterització del flux de neutrons mitjançant el codi de simulació Monte Carlo MCNP. Els resultats de les simulacions han mostrat una clara influència de les diferents estructures emplaçades entre la mostra de producció de neutrons i les mostres de fissió. Altres correccions s¿han realitzat per la fissió espontània del 240,242Pu (mesurada independentment en aquest treball amb una incertesa inferior al 1,3%), la deficiència d'esdeveniments a causa del llindar de detecció, l'eficiència del detector, l'anisotropia en l'emissió dels neutrons, etc. Tot i que el principal objectiu va ser l'obtenció de la secció eficaç de fissió per neutró induït del 240,242Pu en la regió de 0.3 MeV a 3 MeV, resultats addicionals han estat obtinguts per la secció eficaç del 238U(n,f) i el 237Np(n,f). Els resultats obtinguts mostren un acord significatiu entre la secció eficaç del 240,242Pu(n,f) i resultats experimentals anteriors, tot i que la tendència és lleugerament inferior a les avaluacions (ENDF/B-VII.1, JEFF 3.1 i JENDL 4.0) disponibles. En el cas de la secció eficaç del 242Pu(n,f), a més, el pic de ressonància al voltant de 1.1 MeV predit per quasi totes les dades experimentals anteriors i les avaluacions actuals no s'ha reproduït en aquest experiment. Els resultats de la secció eficaç del 237Np(n,f) presenten un increment en la regió plana després del llindar de fissió d'un 5-7% respecte l'avaluació ENDF/B-VII.1, i en concordança amb els resultats obtinguts per Paradela (2010) [2]. Finalment, els resultats de la secció eficaç del 238U(n,f) mostren un increment al voltant d'un 7-9% a la zona plana després del llindar de fissió, aquesta predicció concorda amb l'avaluació JEFF 3.2. [1] Uncertainty and target accuracy assessment for innovative systems using recent covariance data evaluations, Volume 26, 2008, OECD-NEA [2] Paradela, C. et al., Neutron-induced fission cross section of U-234 and Np-237 measured at the CERN Neutron Time-of-Flight (n_TOF) facility.,Physical Review C. 82, 3, 034601 (2010)

Abstract Fission ionization chamber of Nuclear Instrumentation System (NIS) is an essential equipment for the nuclear power plant. By measuring the neutron fluence rate in the immediate range (IR), the power level of the reactor can be determined. In order to ensure its performance to get accurate measurement results, the reliability and aging degree should be analyzed so that we can replace the fission ionization chamber before it expires. In this paper, the aging mechanism of NIS fission ionization chamber is analyzed and calculated from four aspects: moderator degradation, irradiation damage, sensitive uranium plating loss and detector working gas loss. The calculation model is the fission ionization chamber developed by our institute. As the results indicated, moderator degradation and irradiation damage of neutrons cause tiny effect of detector performance. The uranium plating loss caused by neutron reaction leads to 2% detector sensitivity decrease when irradiation time reaches 45.8 years. The working gas loss leads to less than 2% detector sensitivity decrease in 146.4 years if the gas leakage is highly controlled. Furthermore, the mean time between failure (MTBF) is analyzed and calculated. This research provides detailed analysis and methods to determine the reliability and life of NIS fission ionization chamber. And the results indicated that the detector developed by our institute has high reliability to apply in the cruel environment outside the reactor.