Parameters measurement for the thermal neutron beam in the thermal column hole of Xi'an pulse reactor (Q617095)

The authors note that the thermal neutron irradiation field can be obtained in the column hole, while neutron spectra and neutron fluence rate are key parameters of a neutron field. In this work the two parameters of the thermal neutron field in the column hole are measured. The main influence factors on the measuring accurateness of the thermal neutron spectra, such as, the time delay and time distribution of the experiment system, the neutron flight time-energy response of the multiple channel time-of-flight spectrometer, neutron attenuated by the environmental conditions including air density and humidity, etc. are considered. The neutron fluence rate in the thermal column hole is determined by gold foil activation method. At the same time, the spectra-averaged cross-section values for \(^{197}Au(n,\gamma)\) determined by the measured thermal neutron spectra and by the thermal Maxwelian theory neutron spectra are calculated respectively.