Validation of neutron data libraries by backscattered spectra of Pu–Be Neutrons

Elastically backscattered spectra of Pu–Be neutrons have been measured for SiO2, water, graphite, paraffin oil and Al slabs using a proton recoil spectrometer. The results were compared with the calculated spectra obtained by the three-dimensional Monte-Carlo transport code MCNP-4B and point-wise cross sections from the ENDF/B-V, ENDF/B-VI, JENDL-3.1 and BROND-2 data libraries. The good agreement between the measured and calculated results indicates that this procedure can be used for validation of different data libraries. This simple method renders possible the detection of oxygen, carbon and hydrogen in bulk samples.