Design and construction of a 9 MeV γ-ray source based on capture of moderated plutonium-beryllium neutrons in nickel

P-A Söderström; D L Balabanski; R S Ban; Gh Ciocan; M Cuciuc; A Dhal; V Fugaru; V Iancu; A Rotaru; A B Şerban; A State; D Testov; G V Turturică; V Vasilca

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2022.110559

Design and construction of a 9 MeV γ-ray source based on capture of moderated plutonium-beryllium neutrons in nickel

Appl Radiat Isot. 2023 Jan:191:110559. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2022.110559. Epub 2022 Nov 12.

Authors

P-A Söderström¹, D L Balabanski², R S Ban³, Gh Ciocan², M Cuciuc², A Dhal², V Fugaru⁴, V Iancu², A Rotaru², A B Şerban², A State², D Testov², G V Turturică², V Vasilca²

Affiliations

¹ Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Reactorului 30, 077125, Bucharest-Măgurele, Romania. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Reactorului 30, 077125, Bucharest-Măgurele, Romania.
³ Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Reactorului 30, 077125, Bucharest-Măgurele, Romania; Politehnica University of Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 313, 060042 Bucharest, Romania.
⁴ Department of Radioisotopes and Radiation Metrology (DRMR), Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), Reactorului 30, 077125, Bucharest-Măgurele, Romania.

PMID: 36413938
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2022.110559

Abstract

We have designed and constructed a high-energy γ-ray source for detector characterisation and calibration. The source is a composite type based on a plutonium-beryllium neutron emitter embedded in a paraffin moderator, which is homogeneously mixed with nickel powder. The 9 MeV γ-ray source produces approximately 450 photons per second in 4π when 2.2×10⁵ neutrons per second are emitted, corresponding to a surface flux of 9 MeV γ-rays of approximately 2.5×10^-6 cm^-2 per emitted neutron. Here we discuss the properties and design of this source, including the characterisation of homogeneity and high-energy γ-ray emission spectra.

Keywords: Composite radioactive sources; High-energy γ-rays; Neutron sources; Scintillator detectors.