Development of neutron spectrum unfolding method for advanced nuclear emulsion

原子核乾板を用いた中性子スペクトルアンフォールディング法の開発

前田 茂貴   ; 伊藤 主税   ; 石原 康平*; 高木 恵輔*; 湊 春奈*; 坂井 陽介*; 河原林 順*; 富田 英生*; 井口 哲夫*

Maeda, Shigetaka; Ito, Chikara; Ishihara, Kohei*; Takagi, Keisuke*; Minato, Haruna*; Sakai, Yosuke*; Kawarabayashi, Jun*; Tomita, Hideki*; Iguchi, Tetsuo*

本研究では、原子炉の使用済燃料棒周辺等における高線バックグラウンド下での中性子測定に向けて、新型の原子核乾板とアンフォールディング手法を組合せた測定手法の開発を行っている。原子核乾板には中性子起因の反跳陽子による飛跡が記録される。反跳陽子の飛跡長は中性子のエネルギーに依存することから、その応答関数を評価し、飛跡長から中性子エネルギースペクトルをアンフォールディングによって評価できることを示した。

In order to realize neutron spectroscopy in high-intensity ray fields, an advanced nuclear emulsion based on a non-sensitized OPERA film with AgBr grain sizes of 60 nm has been developed together with a neutron spectrum unfolding method. The response functions were evaluated in the neutron energy range between 0.1 and 4.5 MeV by Monte Carlo calculations. To realize a highly reliable unfolding method that does not require an initial guess spectrum, an algorithm was formulized based on the maximum entropy principle and the maximum likelihood method, and the new unfolding code MEALU was developed. Through analyses of mock-up data, its performance was checked. The neutron spectrum from fresh fuel from the experimental fast reactor Joyo was estimated and track lengths were simulated using the calculated response function and the estimated spectrum. Comparison between the assumed neutron spectrum and the unfolded one confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed technique.