Cross-correlation measurements with the EJ-299-33 plastic scintillator

Mark M. Bourne, Jeff Whaley, Jennifer L. Dolan, John K. Polack, Marek Flaska, Shaun D. Clarke, Alice Tomanin, Paolo Peerani, Sara A. Pozzi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

New organic-plastic scintillation compositions have demonstrated pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) of neutrons and gamma rays. We present cross-correlation measurements of 252Cf and mixed uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX) with the EJ-299-33 plastic scintillator. For comparison, equivalent measurements were performed with an EJ-309 liquid scintillator. Offline, digital PSD was applied to each detector. These measurements show that EJ-299-33 sacrifices a factor of 5 in neutron-neutron efficiency relative to EJ-309, but could still utilize the difference in neutron-neutron efficiency and neutron single-to-double ratio to distinguish 252Cf from MOX. These measurements were modeled with MCNPX-PoliMi, and MPPost was used to convert the detailed collision history into simulated cross-correlation distributions. MCNPX-PoliMi predicted the measured 252Cf cross-correlation distribution for EJ-309 to within 10%. Greater photon uncertainty in the MOX sample led to larger discrepancy in the simulated MOX cross-correlation distribution. The modeled EJ-299-33 plastic also gives reasonable agreement with measured cross-correlation distributions, although the MCNPX-PoliMi model appears to under-predict the neutron detection efficiency.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)460-464
Number of pages5
JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume784
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Instrumentation

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