Argonne National Lab., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Abstract
An ongoing project to characterize the neutron beams at the Neutron Radiography Reactor (NRAD) is described in this paper. The effort has consisted of computer modelling with three dimensional diffusion theory to obtain a trail spectrum, foil activation measurements, and the use of SAND-II unfolding code. It was expected and found that diffusion theory will underpredict the fast flux. However, it is claimed that precise characterization of the entire spectrum is not necessary for comparisons among neutron radiography facilities; rather, the use of simple fast neutron indicators should be adequate. A specific example used at NRAD is the U-235/U-238 fission reaction rate ratio. A ratio such as this could be used in the same manner as the classic gold cadmium ratio for interfacility comparisons with regard to fast neutrons. 5 refs
