Stimulated perturbation on the neutron flux distribution in the mutually-dependent source-to-absorber geometry

TL;DR

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to analyze how different neutron absorbers perturb the neutron flux distribution in a controlled spherical geometry, revealing effects on neutron moderation especially above 1 MeV.

Contribution

It provides detailed insights into neutron flux perturbations caused by absorbers of various sizes and cross-sections in a simulated isotopic neutron field.

Findings

Absorber size and cross-section significantly affect flux perturbation.

Neutron moderation is influenced by absorbers, especially above 1 MeV.

Flux perturbations depend on resonance absorption phenomena.

Abstract

The complexity of the neutron transport phenomenon throws its shadows on every physical system wherever neutron is produced or absorbed. The Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code (MCNP) was used to investigate the flux perturbations in the neutron field caused by an absorber. The geometry of the present experiment was designed to reach a simulation of an isotopic neutron field. The neutron source was a ${}^{241}$AmBe with the production physics of neutrons is dependent only on alpha-beryllium interaction and is independent of what happened to the neutron after it was generated. The geometries have been designed to get a volume of uniform neutron densities within a spherical volume of radius 15 cm in every neutron energy group up to 10 MeV. Absorbers of different dimensions were placed within the volume to investigate the field perturbation. Different neutron absorbers were used to correlate the phenomenon to the integral cross-section of the absorber. Flux density inside and outside the absorber samples was determined, while the spatial neutron flux distribution produced by the AmBe source without an absorber was taken as a reference. This study displayed that absorbers of various dimensions perturb the neutron field in a way that is dependent on the absorption and scattering cross-sections, particularly in the neutron resonance region. Unlike the simple picture of reducing the number density of neutrons, the perturbation was found to influence the moderation of neutrons in the medium, significantly above 1 MeV.