Development of a high-efficiency neutron counter using novel materials

Neutron detection efficiency is an important figure of merit for waste assay applications that must measure small quantities of material. It is also important for neutron coincidence counting and multiplicity counting because the detection of double- and triple-correlated events scales as the detection efficiency squared and cubed, respectively. Conventional thermal neutron detection systems typically employ 3He detector tubes embedded in polyethylene. The polyethylene moderates the neutrons so they can be detected by the 3He tubes. However, the hydrogen in the moderator also absorbs neutrons and reduces the diffusion length. We have extensively explored alternate designs that use both polyethylene and other industrial plastics with lower concentrations of hydrogen. In MCNP studies, we have achieved higher detection efficiency by using both polyethylene and other plastics in a hybrid design. In this paper we will present the design of a nominal 30%-efficient, 200-liter neutron counter that uses a hybrid design. We will show comparison results of this design compared to a standard polyethylene design. Finally, this counter has been constructed and tested, and was used in the Los Alamos waste assay course. We will show comparisons of the experimental results from this counter to the MCNP predictions