Neutron Field Shaping Using Graphite for Reaction Rate Measurements

Neutron field shaping is the suitable method for validation of cross section in various energy regions. By increasing the share of neutrons of a certain energy interval and decreasing the share of other, a reaction becomes more sensitive to selected neutrons. As a result, reaction cross section can be validated in selected energy regions more precisely. The shaping can be carried out by both neutron filters which are materials with high absorption in some energy region, or by diffusion material changing the shape of neutron spectra by means of slowing down process. In the presented experiments, the neutron field of the light reactor 0 (LR-0) research reactor was shaped by both using graphite blocks inserted into the core and Cd cladding for increasing the epithermal reaction rate share in total reaction rates. The calculations were carried out with the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code 6 (MCNP6) code and the most recent nuclear data libraries. The results in the pure graphite neutron field are in good agreement; in case of Cd cladding, significant discrepancies were reported. In case of the ²³Na(n,γ)²⁴Na reaction, overestimation by about 14% was reached in International Reactor Dosimetry and Fusion File (IRDFF-II), results in other libraries are comparable. In case of ⁵⁸Fe(n,γ)⁵⁹Fe, the overestimation as high as 18% is reported in IRDFF-II. For ⁶⁴Zn(n,γ)⁶⁵Zn reasonable agreement was reached in evaluated nuclear data file (ENDF/B-VIII), where discrepancies in pure graphite neutron field or in case of Cd cladding are about 10–15%.