An investigation of models of rhodium emitter used in self-powered neutron detector

he paper presents the results of MCNP simulation of the self-powered neutron detector (SPND) signal formation as a result of emitter nuclei activation under the irradiation with neutrons generated in the fuel assemblies. To account for the non-uniformity of emitter burnup along the radius, its model was divided radially into 10 layers of equal thickness. It has been shown that the main contribution of about 88 % of SPND signal is provided by the four peripheral emitter layers. The contribution of different parts of emitter to the SPND signal formation throughout the lifetime of the SPND in the In-Core Monitoring System was found. Simulation results allow us to determine the SPND signal when the spectral characteristics of the neutron flux at the detector location change during the fuel campaign. The study has investigated and proposed a SPND model with the higher neutron sensitivity even though a smaller amount of expensive rhodium is used.