High-power, pulsed bremsstrahlung source for inducing photofission

Author

Hinshelwood, David D. ; Allen, R.J. ; Apruzese, J.P. ; Commisso, R.J. ; Cooperstein, G. ; Jackson, S.L. ; Mosher, D. ; Murphy, D.P. ; Ottinger, P.F. ; Schumer, J.W. ; Swanekamp, S.B. ; Weber, B.V. ; Young, F.C. ; Zier, J.C. ; Hunt, A.W. ; Larsen, Z.M. ; C

Author_Institution

Plasma Phys. Div., Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA

fYear

2011

fDate

19-23 June 2011

Firstpage

1428

Lastpage

1435

Abstract

This paper describes the use of intense, pulsed bremsstrahlung for inducing photofission in fissionable material. 8-MV bremsstrahlung triggers photofission in depleted uranium (DU). Particle-in-cell and Monte-Carlo codes model the source, gamma and neutron production and transport, and detector response. A variety of detectors have been fielded successfully to measure fission in DU from delayed-neutron, delayed-gamma, and prompt-neutron signals. This work represents the first clean measurement of prompt photofission neutrons in an intense, pulsed-power environment.

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; bremsstrahlung; fission of uranium; gamma-ray production; neutron detection; neutron production; photofission; Monte-Carlo code model; delayed-gamma signals; delayed-neutron signals; depleted uranium analysis; detector response; fissionable material; gamma production; high-power pulsed bremsstrahlung source; intense pulsed bremsstrahlung; intense pulsed-power environment; neutron production; neutron transport response; particle-in-cell code model; prompt photofission neutron measurement; prompt-neutron signals; voltage 8 MV; Anodes; Lead; Neutrons; Photonics; Predictive models; Time measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Pulsed Power Conference (PPC), 2011 IEEE

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL

ISSN

2158-4915

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-0629-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PPC.2011.6191658

Filename

6191658