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  4. A mm(3) Fiber-Coupled Scintillator for In-Core Thermal Neutron Detection in CROCUS
 
research article

A mm(3) Fiber-Coupled Scintillator for In-Core Thermal Neutron Detection in CROCUS

Vitullo, Fanny  
•
Lamirand, Vincent  
•
Mosset, Jean-Baptiste
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April 1, 2020
Ieee Transactions On Nuclear Science

This article presents the development, full-characterization, and in-core testing of a miniature neutron detector for the investigation of highly localized in-core neutronics effects in the zero-power reactor CROCUS, operated at the Ecole Polytechnique federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. A ZnS:(LiF)-Li-6 screen, mixing inorganic scintillator and neutron converter, with a surface of 1 mm(2) and a thickness of 0.2 mm, was coupled with a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) via a 10-m optical fiber. Analog readout electronics were adopted in this prototype version to process the SiPM output signal. A first campaign was carried out to assess the detection system capabilities in terms of neutron detection and counting in mixed neutron-gamma radiation fields. The miniature detector was thoroughly characterized with a Pu-Be source installed in the CARROUSEL facility and was subsequently tested inside a control rod guide tube of the CROCUS reactor in different reactor conditions, i.e., at shutdown, startup, and critical. The detector shows a linear response with a reactor power increase up to 6.5 W (i.e., around 108 cm(-2) . s(-1) total neutron flux) and excellent neutron counting capabilities, when compared to other localized detection systems available in CROCUS, such as the miniature fission chambers and single-crystal vapor deposited (sCVD) diamond detectors. In addition, the exposure of the miniature detector to a Co-60 source with an activity of similar to 250 GBq, combined with the computation of the gamma flux in CROCUS with the Serpent 2 Monte Carlo code, confirmed the gamma insensitivity of the system in a mixed neutron-gamma field.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1109/TNS.2020.2977530
Web of Science ID

WOS:000538154200013

Author(s)
Vitullo, Fanny  
Lamirand, Vincent  
Mosset, Jean-Baptiste
Frajtag, Pavel  
Pakari, Oskari  
Perret, Gregory
Pautz, Andreas  
Date Issued

2020-04-01

Publisher

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Published in
Ieee Transactions On Nuclear Science
Volume

67

Issue

4

Start page

625

End page

635

Subjects

Engineering, Electrical & Electronic

•

Nuclear Science & Technology

•

Engineering

•

crocus zero-power reactor

•

in-core neutron

•

detectors

•

miniature neutron detector

•

miniature scintillator devices

•

optical fiber devices

•

next-generation

•

optical-fiber

•

readout

•

reactor

•

flux

Note

6th International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation Measurement Methods and their Applications (ANIMMA), Jun 17-21, 2019, Portoroz, SLOVENIA

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LRS  
Available on Infoscience
June 20, 2020
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/169490
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