Artículos de revistas
Neutron detection using a water Cherenkov detector with pure water and a single PMT
Fecha
2017-12-16Registro en:
Sidelnik, Iván Pedro; Asorey, Hernán Gonzalo; Blostein, Juan Jeronimo; Gomez Berisso, Mariano; Neutron detection using a water Cherenkov detector with pure water and a single PMT; Elsevier Science; Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipament; 876; 16-12-2017; 153-155
0168-9002
CONICET Digital
CONICET
Autor
Sidelnik, Iván Pedro
Asorey, Hernán Gonzalo
Blostein, Juan Jeronimo
Gomez Berisso, Mariano
Resumen
We present the performance of a novel neutron detector based on a water Cherenkov detector (WCD) employing pure water and a single photomultiplier tube (PMT). The experiments presented in this work were performed using 241AmBe and 252Cf neutron sources in different neutron moderator and shielding configurations. We show that fast neutrons from the 241AmBe and 241Cf sources, as well as thermal neutrons from a neutron moderator, despite having different spectral characteristics, produce essentially the same pulse histogram shape. This characteristic pulse-height histogram shapes are recorded as a clear signature of neutrons with energies lower than ≃11MeV. This is verified in different experimental conditions. Our estimation of the neutron detection efficiency is at the level of (15±5)%, for fast neutrons. Since water is the material employed as active volume, the results of this study are of interest for the construction of low cost and large active volume neutron detectors for various applications. Of special importance are those related with space weather phenomena monitoring as well as those for the detection of fissile special nuclear material, including uranium or plutonium.