2 research outputs found
Radioactivities induced in some LDEF samples
Radioactivities induced in several Long Duration Exposure Facilities (LDEF) samples were measured by low-level counting at Los Alamos and elsewhere. These radionuclides have activities similar to those observed in meteorites and lunar samples. Some trends were observed in these measurements in terms of profiles in trunnion layers and as a function of radionuclide half-life. Several existing computer codes were used to model the production by the protons trapped in the Earth's radiation belts and by the galactic cosmic rays of some of these radionuclides, Mn-54 and Co-57 in steel, Sc-46 in titanium, and Na-22 in alloys of titanium and aluminum. Production rates were also calculated for radionuclides possibly implanted in LDEF, Be-7, Be-10, and C-14. Enhanced concentrations of induced isotopes in the surfaces of trunnion sections relative to their concentrations in the center are caused by the lower-energy protons in the trapped radiation. Secondary neutrons made by high-energy trapped protons and by galactic cosmic rays produce much of the observed radioactivities, especially deep in an object. Comparisons of the observed to calculated activities of several radionuclides with different half-lives indicate that the flux of trapped protons at LDEF decreased significantly at the end of the mission
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Gamma-ray production cross sections from neutron interactions with iron.
The initial purpose of this experiment was to provide a consistent data base of neutron-induced gamma-ray production cross sections over a large energy range for use in estimating elemental composition of the martian surface by observing gamma rays produced by cosmic ray interactions on the planet's surface [Bo02]. However, these data should be useful for other projects such as oil-well logging, accelerator transmutation of nuclear waste, shielding calculations, gamma-ray heating for nuclear reactors and verification of nuclear model calculations and databases. The goal of the measurements was to collect data on the strongest gamma rays from many samples of interest. Because of the available beam time this meant that many of the measurcments were rather short. Despite the short running time the large samples used and the good beam intensity resulted in very satisfactory results. The samples, chosen mainly as common constituents of rock and soil and measured in the same few week period, include: B&, BN, C, Al, Mg, Si, S, Cay Ti, Cr, Mn, and Fe. Be was also used as a neutron scatterer that only produces one gamma ray (478 keV from 7Li) with appreciable intensity. Thus Be can serve as a measure of neutron-induced backgrounds. In this first paper we present results for Fe