Neutron Radiography
Read
this first: US NRC regulations require that buyers
have a Type A Broadscope specific license authorizing possession of tritium in
the applicable quantities before purchase of tritium neutron generators or you
must apply for an engineering safety sealed source and device (SS&D) review and
have a specific license authorizing the possession of these devices. Visit
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) website for details.
Several Non-Power Reactors provide
Neutron Radiography
services. Del Mar Ventures develop and supply customized fast neutron radiography systems based
on neutron generators. Ask us about opportunity to use one of them
for your applications.
Neutron sources
The ING-07 is a generator with a
Penning type ion source and the
ING-103 - with a plasma focus tube. Specifications of the generators are presented in
Table 1. Fast (14MeV) neutrons are emitted in 4p
steradian.
Maximum neutron yield amounts to about 3x109 n/s for the ING-07 and 3x1010
n/pulse for the ING-103. It is important to notice that the generators emit fast neutrons
out of a small area. Its size is about 3-5 mm and 1 mm for ING-07 and ING-103,
respectively. Thus, in most practical cases these sources can be considered as point like
ones. A short duration of the ING-103 pulse (20 ns) and rather high neutron yield per
pulse are especially of interest for imaging quick processes. Besides fast neutrons the
generators radiate also X-rays with an average energy of about 80 keV.
A low power consumption and dimensions of the generators are very attractive from the
point of view of their use in industry for on site inspection.
Table 1.
Performance data |
Generator model |
ING-07 |
ING-103 |
Neutron Yield, n/s (n/pulse) |
3x109 |
(3x1010) |
Max. Pulse Rate, Hz (kHz) |
(20) |
0,005 |
Pulse Width,
ms |
10-200 |
0,02 |
Operating Life Time, h
(pulses) |
500 |
(1000) |
Power consumption, kW |
0,15 |
0,1 |
Weight, kg |
10 |
200 |
Position-Sensitive (Imaging)
Detector of Neutron
Radiographic images obtained by detection of luminescence
generated by neutrons passing Gd-doped screen with a CCD detector. The entrance of the
detector has diam 150 mm field of view. The fast neutron screen
made of a composite material consisting of an organic resin and a powder luminophore (Gd2O2S:
Tb). A thickness of the screen is 3 mm.
Due to presence of a powder luminophore in the screen the detector is sensitive also to
X-rays. The measurement of intensities of the signals produced by fast neutrons and
accompanying X-rays in the CCD-detector placed at a distance of 15 cm from a generator
showed that these signals are in a 1:5 and 1:1 ratio for ING-07 and ING-103, respectively.
A ratio of signals produced by fast neutrons and by X-ray is changeable by shielding the
source with a lead screen of an appropriate thickness.
More details about Gd-screen detectors and imaging systems can be found here.
Scheme of neutron
CCD-detector design
1 - CCD-matrix, 2 - lens system, 3 - mirror, 4 - luminescent screen
5 - sample, 6 - image intensifier
Fast Neutron Radiography System
Specifications
irradiation area: up to 30x30 cm2
L/D value: 10
- 100
exposure time: 1 - 10 min
Fast Neutron Radiography
Facility Requirements
US NRC regulations require that buyers
have a Type A Broadscope specific license authorizing possession of tritium in
the applicable quantities before purchase of tritium neutron generators or you
must apply for an engineering safety sealed source and device (SS&D) review and
have a specific license authorizing the possession of these devices. Visit
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) website for details.
Fast Neutron Radiography Images
Image 1. BNC-connector
Image 2. Rele
Image 3. Al-Si alloy
Image 4. Asphalt particle
Del Mar Ventures will consider your proposal for
installation of neutron radiography system based on pulsed neutron generators at your
facilities for joint research and commercial applications.
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