A feasibility study to determine the carbon and oxygen contents of steel using fast neutron techniques

A method based on fast neutron interactions has been derived for the determination of carbon and oxygen in steel. The method relies on the measurement of inelastically scattered γ-ray emitted by the reaction 12C(n,n'γ) and activation γ-rays emitted by the reaction 16O(n,p)16N. The viability of the method was estimated by computer simulation. The results show that the accuracy of carbon analysis is within ±0.1 percent by weight (wt%) in the range 0.4-2.5wt% and the accuracy of oxygen analysis is within ±0.01wt% in the range 0.1-0.2wt% for a 60-120s measurement period. (author)