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Neutron Activation Analysis

Ryan Ruston
Department of Physics & Astronomy,
University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT

Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to understand neutron activation analysis by varying
the activation time and position of an activated sample in a water tank and measuring the
radioisotope decay with a Geiger counter. Trend lines were applied to the data by
minimising the chi-squared value and a Monte Carlo simulation of the experiment was run
using MCNP to analyse the neutron flux at different positions in the water tank. The results
found are scrutinised and suggestions for an improved experiment are given.

Introduction
Neutron detection by activation
As well as determining neutron activity directly, neutron measurements can be carried out
indirectly by inducing radioactivity. This involves exposing a sample material to a flux of
neutrons so that the nuclei of stable elements become radioactive through neutron capture.
Many of these nuclei will then decay through beta and gamma emission which can be
measured. The measurements made can be used to deduce the number or energy
distribution of neutrons. Furthermore, from precise determination of the gamma energies,
it is usually possible to determine not which isotopes are present, but from the gamma
intensities it can be calculated how much of the original capturing isotope was present and
thus the amount of that element present in the sample [1].
Since neutron reaction cross-sections are highest at low neutron energies, activated
samples are most commonly applied to slow neutrons. The geometry of activation samples
are usually thin foils or wires. This is because the mean free path of neutrons especially in
materials with a large cross-section is quite small. The thickness of the sample is therefore
kept small to prevent disturbing the neutron flux under measurement, since the probability
of neutron interaction will be small.
Use of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)
The technique has a variety of applications: with a known cross-section, measuring activity
gives neutron flux, and thus gives a measure of neutron intensity. If neutron flux is known,
an unknown capture cross-section can be determined. Activation samples have the
advantage of small size, insensitivity to gamma radiation and low cost. They can tolerate
exposure to extreme environments where other detector might fail and require no electrical
connection to the outside world. It is also a non-destructive testing method, with only a
small amount of induced radioactivity being created and the sample unaffected by the
process in the long-term.
Activation samples are thus widely used for mapping spatial variation of steady-state
neutron fluxes in reactor cores, where extreme temperature, pressure and limited space
severely constrain the type of detector that may be used [2]. However since they are purely
integrating factors, they cannot provide any information about time variation of neutron
flux over course of exposure.
The most common application of NAA is to use cases with known flux and cross-section to
determine the target mass . After exposing an unknown sample to the neutron flux, many
different radiations can be observed from the radioactive decays of those isotopes
produced by neutron capture. Careful measurement of the gamma ray spectrum allows
determination of the isotopes that are present in the irradiated sample and in what
quantity. Multi-channel analysers (MCAs) can be constructed to automatically determine
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energies and identify peaks, so that a large number of samples can be counted fairly quickly.
This makes NAA a widely used technique that has important applications in environment
pollution research, archaeology, and forensic science.

Theory
The neutron source
Due to the fact that neutron emission is quite rare, practical neutron sources are not a
consequence of direct neutron emission. Instead, alpha emitting isotopes are surrounded
) reactions can be utilised. In this experiment an Amwith a target material, such that (
Be neutron source is used. Americium-241 decays via alpha emission to Neptunium with a
half-life of 433 years. The resulting alpha particles can interact with the target material
Beryllium to produce a carbon atom and a neutron:
,

(1)

(2)

the value for this reaction is 5.71MeV. Using this method, approximately 82 free neutrons
can be yielded per
alpha decays [3].
Activation and decay
The rate

at which activation occurs is


(3)

where is the neutron flux,


is the activation cross-section averaged over the neutron
spectrum and is the activation sample volume. The rate of activation per unit mass is
therefore a direct indicator of neutron flux strength. As the sample irradiates, the
radionuclides formed undergo decay. The rate of change in over time is the difference
between the rate of formation and the rate of decay:
(4)
This assumes that the rate is constant, which implies that the neutron flux does not vary
during exposure. It also neglects the burn up or decrease in the number of target nuclei
while the measurement is made. The solution for =0 at =0 is
( )
Since the activity

of the sample is

).

(5)

, this becomes

( )

).

(6)

As can be seen in figure 1 below, the induced radioactivity builds up with time and
approaches an asymptote (saturated activity). For infinitely long irradiated times this is
given by
.

(7)

An exposure time of three or four half-lives of induced activity is sufficient to bring the
samples activity to 6-12% of the saturated value. Combining equations 6 and 7 gives
(

),

(8)

assuming the sample irradiates for time and is then removed with an activity . After
exposure the sample can be transferred to an appropriate radiation counter for
measurement of activity. Because the activity is continuously decaying during this stage,
very precise measurements must be made of each of the times involved. If the counting is
carried out over an interval and , the number of counts will be
(

(9)
)

(10)

where is overall counting efficiency and is the number of background counts expected in
[4]. Substituting equation 8 into 10 gives
(
(

)
(

(11)

Figure 1 shows the relation of the produced activated isotope and elapsed time. A1 is the radioactivity at the
end of the activation time t1, A2 is the radioactivity at initial measurement. Transport time and measuring
time are t2 and t3 respectively, and As is the saturation activity of the isotope (Image from Nuclear
Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, A. Murataka et al, 2009).

Silver activation materials


Naturally occurring silver has a composition almost equally split between the isotopes
and
. Therefore via neutron capture, the isotopes produced are predominantly
and
, which undergo the following beta minus decay:
,

(12)

(13)

These isotopes have a decay half-life of 2.37 minutes and 24.6 seconds respectively. Both
cadmium isotopes are stable and do not decay further. The figures 2 and 3 below show the
activation yield for the two isotopes of silver. They illustrate that almost all neutron capture
of the two natural isotopes leads to the silver isotopes
and
.

Figure 2 shows the activation yield of Silver-108 from Silver-107 over different neutron energies (Image
taken from Janis nuclear data library).

Figure 3 shows the activation yield of Silver-110 from Silver-108 over different neutron energies (Image
taken from Janis nuclear data library).

The figures 4 and 5 below show the capture cross-sections for the two aforementioned
isotopes. It can be seen that they are large at low energies, making neutron activation more
likely with slow neutrons. The water in the water tank will act as a moderator to scatter
neutrons down to low energies. Therefore neutron capture by the two Silver isotopes is
probable.

Figure 4 shows the capture cross-section of Silver-107 at different energies (Image taken from Janis nuclear
data library).

Figure 5 shows the capture cross-section of Silver-109 at different energies (Image taken from Janis nuclear
data library).

The four figures above (figures 2 to 5) show what makes silver an ideal activation material: it
has a high and well understood isotope yield as well as a relatively high capture crosssection. For these reasons silver will be the activation material used for this experiment.
Geiger-Mueller Counters
The Geiger-Mueller counter is one of the oldest types of radiation detector. It was
introduced by Geiger and Mueller in 1928, and have remained in use due to the fact they
are simple, low cost and easy to operate. Geiger-Mueller (G-M) counters are a class of gasfilled detectors that are based on ionisation. Akin to other gas-filled detectors they employ
gas multiplication to increase the charge generated by the original ion pairs, but they do this
via another means.

Gas multiplication is a result of increasing the electric field in a gas filled detector. If an
electron ion pair is created from incident radiation in the detector, the electron will be
accelerated to the anode. If these free electrons are accelerated by a voltage to a kinetic
energy greater than the ionisation energy of neutral atoms in the gas, a collision with a gas
molecule can cause another electron ion pair. This electron can also be accelerated, such
that gas multiplication takes the form of a cascade known as a Townsend avalanche [5].
In G-M tubes, higher electric fields are produced that enhance the intensity of each
avalanche. At a critical value of the electric field, each avalanche can create on average one
more avalanche and thus sustain a chain reaction. Once Geiger discharge reaches a certain
size collective effects terminate the chain reaction, but since this limiting point is always
reached after approximately the same number of avalanches, all pulses from a Geiger tube
are the same amplitude regardless of the number of original ion pairs. Therefore G-M tubes
can only act as a simple counter of radiation induced events, and cannot provide any
information on the amount of energy deposited. This means G-M tubes are never used in
radiation spectroscopy.
A pulse from a G-M tube represents a large amount of collected charge when compared to
other detector types, with a typical number being about
ion pairs. This high
level signal eliminates the need for an external amplifier making the tubes themselves
relatively inexpensive. However, the dead time for a G-M tube is significantly greater than
for other detectors, which limits their use to fairly low count rate sources.

Figure 6 shows the mechanisms which trigger additional avalanches in a Geiger discharge (Image taken from
Radiation Detection and Measurement, G. Knoll, 2000)

Quenching
If a single gas is used in a G-M tube, after the primary Geiger discharge has terminated, the
positive ions will slowly drift from the anode to the cathode. Once reaching the cathode
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these ions can be neutralised by combining with electrons on the cathode surface, leading
to another free electron emerging from the cathode surface. If this electron then drifts
towards the anode and causes an avalanche, a second Geiger discharge will be produced.
This cycle may repeat to give a continuous output of pulses, as illustrated above in figure 6.
A way of preventing this is known as quenching.
Quenching consists of reducing the high voltage applied to the tube for a given time period
after each pulse to prevent further gas multiplication. This stops secondary avalanches
forming and even if a free electron is liberated at the cathode, is cannot cause a further
Geiger discharge. The voltage must be reduced for a time greater than the time needed for
a positive ion to drift from its original position to the cathode, which is usually a few
hundred microseconds.
The most common method of accomplishing this is by adding another gas, a quench gas to
the primary fill gas. This quench gas is chosen to have a lower ionisation potential and a
more complex molecular structure. This means that most positive ions formed by the
incident radiation are from the primary fill gas, and subsequently make many collisions with
neutral gas molecules as they drift towards the cathode. Any collisions that are made with
the quench gas will likely result in a transfer of positive charge to the quench gas, so that
the original primary gas molecule is neutralised. If the concentration of the quench gas is
correct (usually around 10%) then ions that arrive at the cathode will be that of the quench
gas.
When quench gas molecules are neutralised, the energy transferred goes to disassociation
of the more complex molecule rather than the liberating of free electrons from the cathode
surface. The quench gas can therefore be called a sacrificial charge carrier, which results
in no secondary avalanches. The most popular quench gases used are Ethyl Alcohol and
Ethyl Formate. Quench gases are gradually consumed during the lifetime of the G-M tube,
so must be replaced if the G-M tube is to remain operational.
Dead time
An accumulation of positive ion space charge that terminates the Geiger discharge also
results in a substantial time gap between the first and second Geiger discharge. Since the
electric field is reduced following a Geiger discharge, if another ionising event takes place
during this time a second pulse will not be seen because gas multiplication is suppressed.
This is the dead time for a Geiger tube and is defined as the period between the initial
pulse and the second pulse, typically 50-100 [6]. As already mentioned, the dead time for
a Geiger Mueller counter is a significant factor that needs to be considered.
Geiger counting plateau
The operating point of a G-M tube is chosen by finding a plateau curve, where the radiation
source generates counts at a constant rate within the tube. To do this, the count rate is
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calculated as the voltage is raised from an initial low value. If the voltage is raised beyond a
threshold value, a maximum count rate will be found where increasing the voltage further
does not increase the number of recorded pulse, i.e. a plateau. Although is real cases, the
plateau actually has a small gradient, as shown below in figure 7. If the voltage is made very
high this plateau comes to an end because of the onset of continuous discharge
mechanisms within the tube [7]. These discharge processes are potentially harmful and
should be avoided.

Figure 7 shows the change in count rate as voltage is increased (Image taken from
http://cistwiki.ufv.ca/bin/view/Phys382/IntroLab, 21/03/2013)

G-M tube design


Cathode

Thin
end-window

Anode wire
Insulator
(gas tight)

Figure 8 shows the basic design of a Geiger Mueller tube.

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Since gas and avalanche formation are required, like other proportional counters, a fine
anode wire is used to produce the electric field necessary to create the multiplying region.
Radiation enters the tube through the window as shown on figure 8 above. For recording
short range decays such as alpha particles, the window should be made as thin as possible.
Because no preamplifier is required, GM tubes really can be illustrated as simply as in figure
8.
High voltage
supply

Geiger-Mueller

Discriminator

Counter

tube

Figure 9 shows the electronics associated with a Geiger-Mueller tube.

The signal voltage for a Geiger Mueller tube is generated across the load resistance, i.e. the
series resistance between the high voltage supply and the anode in figure 9. Parallel
combination of with the capacitance of the tube and wiring determines the time
constant of the charge collecting circuit. The coupling capacitor is needed to block the
tubes high voltage but allow transmittance of the signal pulse at ground potential to the
following circuits. To prevent the pulse amplitude from attenuation, its value has to be great
enough so that
is large compared with pulse period [8].

Method
The first task in the experiment was to find the Geiger counting plateau so that the
operating voltage could be chosen. Strontium (
) was used for this part of the
experiment because of its pure beta decay and suitable half-life. It was known that the
operating voltage of the Geiger-Mueller counter was between 350 and 500V, so recordings
were made at 10V intervals between these values. The number of counts for a given voltage
was recorded after 60 seconds and the count rate calculated. Two repeat measurements
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were made and an average count rate found for each voltage interval. A graph of average
count rate against voltage was then plotted and can be seen below in figure11. By
comparing this plot to figure 7, a suitable operating voltage could be chosen.
Once the operating voltage had been chosen, a sample of Silver was selected for the
activation sample. The sample was confirmed to be silver using X-ray fluorescence. The
Silver sample was tied to string and carefully lowered into the water tank and exposed to
the neutron source (see figure 10) for varying times. The sample was then removed from
the water tank as quickly as possible and placed into the Geiger Mueller counter. This
procedure was repeated with Silver for activation times of 5, 10 and 15 minutes. The counts
were recorded for 5 minutes, and then left for approximately four decay times (
minutes) to allow the sample to deactivate.

Neutron
source
Activation
sample
Water
tank

Figure 2 shows the experimental set up in the water tank.

Next, the variation of activated samples decay with axial distance from the neutron
source was investigated. The activation material was placed inside the water tank for 15
minutes at distances of 5, 10, 15 and 20cm. As before, the counts were recorded for 5
minutes and two repeats were made for each distance. A background count was found by
measuring the counts recorded without the presence of a source. This background count
was subtracted from the measurements made. The count rates were then calculated as well
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as the Poisson error. Plots were then produced for the two datasets and can be seen below
in figures 12 and 13.

Results and analysis

Variation in activity with applied voltage

Activity (counts per second)

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
390

400

410

420

430

440

450

460

470

480

490

500

510

Voltage (V)
Figure 3 shows the change in recorded counts as the applied voltage is increased.

Figure 11 above shows the change in the count rate as the voltage is increased. The Geiger
plateau has been made easier to distinguish by plotting a straight line through the points;
this indicates the deviation from a linear relationship in the Geiger plateau region. The
Geiger plateau occurs from 430 and 460V. As a result, an operating voltage of 445V was
chosen for the rest of the experiment.

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Decay of activated isotopes for different activation times


4

Activity (counts per second)

3.5
5 min activation time

10 min activation time

2.5

15 min activation time


2
1.5

3 38

2 25

53

1
0.5
0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Time (seconds)

Figure 4 shows the activated silver isotopes decay over time for different activation times. The equations of
the plotted trend lines for each activation time are shown on the right in the corresponding colour.

Figure 12 above shows that the activated isotopes follow the typical exponential decay,
displayed in the three equations to the right of the graph. Increasing activation time
increases the activation isotopes activity. This is because the longer the Silver activation
sample is exposed, the more likely it is to capture neutrons and become the isotopes that
subsequently decay. This holds true until a saturation point is reached, where the rate of
neutron capture is equal to the rate of isotope decay.

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Decay of activated isotopes at different axial distance in water


tank
5

5cm

Activity (counts per second)

4.5

10cm

15cm

3.5

20cm

3
2.5
2

1.5

2 98
63

96
85
2 34

34

45

0.5
0
0

50

100

150
200
Time (seconds)

250

300

350

Figure 5 shows the decay of the activated silver isotopes over time for different axial distances from the AmBe neutron source.

Figure 13 above shows the exponential decay of the activated isotopes when the position of
the sample in the water tank is altered. There is a much larger difference between the
activity seen between 5cm and 10cm and that seen between 10cm and 15cm. This is due to
the large fall off of neutron flux with distance from the source in the water tank, which can
be seen below in the MCNP simulation plot shown below in figure 14. The decays for 20, 15
and 10cm distances are very close to each other, and have a fairly low count rate. This is
probably due to the sample containing fairly few activated isotopes because of an
insufficient number of collisions with neutrons. This results in a less statistically reliable
dataset, particularly given the low activity of the sample even at close proximity to the
source and high activation times.

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Change in neutron flux with distance from Am-Be


source
2.50E-02

Neutron flux

2.00E-02
Total neutron flux

1.50E-02
1.00E-02
5.00E-03
0.00E+00
5cm

10cm
15cm
Axial distance from neutron source

20cm

Figure 6 shows the simulated neutron flux variation at different axial distance from the Am-Be neutron
source.

Figure 14 above shows the change in neutron flux with distance from the source. This plot
was produced using a simulation ran with MCNP. The simulation was given the same
geometry, same source and was made from the same materials as in the real experiment.
The simulation helps to explain the large change in activity with distance seen in figure 13.
As the neutrons propagate radially from the Am-Be source, more and more of them are
scattered down to lower energies, with some of them being absorbed or escaping from the
water tank. This means that the neutron flux falls of rapidly with distance from the source.

Am-Be neutron flux at different energies


1.20E-02

Neutron Flux

1.00E-02

10cm
8.00E-03

15cm
20cm

6.00E-03

5cm

4.00E-03
2.00E-03

1.00E-10

1.00E-08

1.00E-06

1.00E-04

1.00E-02

0.00E+00
1.00E+00

Energy (MeV)
Figure 7 shows the simulated neutron fluxes at different energies and positions from the neutron source.

Figure 15 above shows the energy distribution of the 5MeV Am-Be neutron source used in
the water tank. This was produced using the same MCNP simulation used for figure 14. It
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demonstrates that most of the neutrons in all regions are at thermal neutron energies,
around 0.1eV. This is the characteristic thermal peak. The peak occurs at this point due to
the water in the tank acting as a moderator, and scattering the neutrons down to lower
energies.
Some neutrons remain in the highest energy region. These are fast neutrons, and have
avoided collisions with water molecules. There are far more fast neutrons at 5cm from the
source than at further distances, because as you move further from the source, the
probability of a given neutron colliding with a water molecules and scattering down to lower
energies becomes more and more likely.
The neutron fluxes decrease as the distance increases due to the effects of absorption and
leakage. It can be assumed that the neutrons present in the water tank are at the same
thermal energy as seen in the MCNP simulation. Looking back at figures 4 and 5, it can be
seen that the cross sections for the two Silver isotopes are high at 0.1eV. This makes the
capture of some neutrons by the Silver sample in the water tank is fairly likely.

Conclusions
The equations displayed in figures 12 and 13 were found using the solver function on excel,
where the four variables in the equations are varied to minimise the chi squared value. The
decay times of the two activated isotopes are 24.6 seconds and 2.37 minutes. Therefore
from the decay equation for two radioisotopes the count rate should be
.

(14)

Hence for the activated Silver sample in this experiment, the trend lines should have the
form
.

(15)

Yet the variables in the count rate equations displayed in the figures 12 and 13, found by
minimising the chi squared value, differ significantly from the form in equation 13. By
keeping the half-lives constant and only varying the constants and to minimise chi
squared, trend lines were produced that also fit the data very closely. However the
constants and for these new trend lines vary significantly. This suggests that it would be
very difficult to ascertain which decays were occurring in this experimental setup from the
calculated half lives alone. This is because many different trend lines could be plotted for a
range of different half-lives, which could all closely match the decay. Of course, this is not a
problem for this experiment, since the decays taking place are known prior to the
experiment.

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To determine which isotopes were decaying in this experiment would require a different
type of detector. A detector that could use gamma ray spectroscopy to examine the
characteristic gamma intensities would be required, such as a Germanium detector. This
would be an interesting focus for a future experiment. Furthermore, from the data gathered
in this experiment it would be very difficult to deduce the number or energy distribution of
the neutrons in the water tank. This would require much more precise knowledge of the
sample volume, purity and isotope decay.
Another issue with using a Geiger counter is the decay time. Although the activity of the
activated sample was fairly low, the large decay time would have contributed to absence of
some counts. This would have been particularly significant for the first minute or so of count
readings, when the
isotope would have mostly decay away due to its very short halflife. Another source of error would have been the delay in taking the sample from the water
tank to the Geiger counter. This was approximately 20 seconds, meaning a sizeable portion
of
would have decayed away before it had even been put in the detector. This can be
seen in figure 13, where the constant in the trend line equation for
5 is zero,
indicating that the closest curve to the data is that consisting of just one radioactive isotope.
A great improvement to this experiment would be to reduce this time delay as much as
possible.

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References
[1] Krane, Introductory Nuclear Physics, Wiley, (1988), p.788.
[2] Krane, Introductory Nuclear Physics, Wiley, (1988), p.789.
[3] Knoll, G., Radiation Detection and Measurement, third edition, Wiley, (2000), p.22
[4] Knoll, G., Radiation Detection and Measurement, third edition, Wiley, (2000), p.745
[5] Knoll, G., Radiation Detection and Measurement, third edition, Wiley, (2000), p.159
[6] Knoll, G., Radiation Detection and Measurement, third edition, Wiley, (2000), p.207
[7] Knoll, G., Radiation Detection and Measurement, third edition, Wiley, (2000), p.209
[8] Knoll, G., Radiation Detection and Measurement, third edition, Wiley, (2000), p.211

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Appendix A
Shown below is the input file used for the MCNP simulation to find the energy spectrum of
the neutron flux at an axial distance of 5cm from the source.
MESSAGE:
C
C
1
2
3
C
C
99
C
C
1
2
3
C
4
5
C
6

CELL CARDS
1 -1 -1 2 -3 #4
$ Water inside bucket
2 -7.92 1 -4 2 -3 #4
$ Steel in bucket cylinder
2 -7.92 -2 5 -4 #4
$ Steel bottom to bucket

#1 #2 #3 #4

$ Void outside bucket

SURFACE CARDS
Inside of bucket
CZ 35.0
$ cylinder along Z, radius 35cm
PZ 0.0
$ bottom of bucket inside
PZ 80.0
$ top of bucket / water construct
Outside of bucket
CZ 35.2
$ cylindrical outside of bucket, radius 35.2cm
PZ -0.2
$ bottom of bucket
Activation sample
RPP 5 5.2 0.2 2 38 42

C MATERIAL CARDS
M1 1001.42c 0.6667 8016.42c 0.3333 $ Pure water
M2 26000.42c 0.74 24000.42c 0.18 28000.42c 0.08 $ Stainless steel
M3 26000.42c 1 $ Silver sample
C
C MODE CARD
MODE:N
IMP:N 1 1 1 1 0
C
C TALLY CARDS
C Flux at point inside silver sample
F15:N 5.1 1.1 40 4
C ENERGY BINS FOR TALLIES
E0 1e-9 1e-8 1e-7 1e-6 1e-5 1e-4 1e-3 1e-2 1e-1 1e0 1e1
C
C SOURCE DEFINITION
C 5.5MeV (average) AmBe neutron source, isotropic at origin
SDEF POS=0.0 0.0 40 ERG=5.50
C
C Number of histories to run
NPS 20000

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Appendix B
Table 1 below shows the change in total mean neutron flux as increasing particle histories.
The figure of can seem to converge, indicating an adequate number of particle histories
have been ran and the results are reliable. Table 2 shows the energy bins for the tally, and
the corresponding neutron flux and relative error.
Tally 15
nps
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
11000
12000
13000
14000
15000
16000
17000
18000
19000
20000

mean
error vov
slope fom
1.6000E-02 0.1586 0.1691 2.8 1157
2.0317E-02 0.2304 0.7392 2.4 280
1.9616E-02 0.1726 0.5399 2.4 336
2.0775E-02 0.1407 0.3259 2.3 378
1.9734E-02 0.1220 0.2909 2.3 404
1.9432E-02 0.1076 0.2476 2.5 434
1.8943E-02 0.0964 0.2306 2.7 466
1.9136E-02 0.0877 0.1910 2.5 492
1.9207E-02 0.0796 0.1731 2.8 531
1.9563E-02 0.0745 0.1415 2.9 546
1.9223E-02 0.0698 0.1344 3.3 565
2.0304E-02 0.0835 0.2347 3.1 363
2.0102E-02 0.0785 0.2261 3.2 379
1.9942E-02 0.0748 0.2114 3.0 389
1.9969E-02 0.0709 0.1976 2.8 403
1.9941E-02 0.0677 0.1853 2.7 415
2.0041E-02 0.0643 0.1754 3.0 434
1.9706E-02 0.0620 0.1722 3.0 440
1.9498E-02 0.0604 0.1616 3.0 440
1.9134E-02 0.0587 0.1590 3.0 443

Table 1 shows the change in the total mean flux with the number or particle histories, along with the relative error,
variance of the variance, slope and figure of merit.

1tally 15
nps = 20000
tally type 5 particle flux at a point detector.
units 1/cm**2
tally for neutrons
detector located at x,y,z = 5.10000E+00 1.10000E+00 4.00000E+01
energy
1.0000E-09 1.65998E-07 0.3213
1.0000E-08 5.49643E-04 0.2784
1.0000E-07 9.61814E-03 0.1078
1.0000E-06 1.52330E-03 0.1201
1.0000E-05 4.38502E-04 0.1488
1.0000E-04 4.47610E-04 0.1558
1.0000E-03 6.76101E-04 0.1748
1.0000E-02 7.93731E-04 0.1426
1.0000E-01 6.90060E-04 0.1100
1.0000E+00 1.20449E-03 0.0566
1.0000E+01 3.19240E-03 0.0216
total 1.91341E-02 0.0587
Table 2 shows the neutron flux at different energies along with the relative error,

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