Design of a fusion plate containing lithium deuteride

A fusion plate and fast neutron detection system is designed for use with the Texas AandM University TRIGA reactor. The plate would contain LiD and could produce 14 Mev neutrons through thermal neutron induced /sup 6/Li(n,α) T reactions and subsequent T-D fusion as the tritons slow down. The results are based on a fusion plate 60 cm x 60 cm x 1 cm containing 3240 grams of LiD. Calculations indicate that the LiD does not need to be enriched in /sup 6/Li. The total T-D neutron source produced would be 3.2 X 10/sup 10/ n/S from a thermal reactor neutron flux of 2 x 10/sup 12/ n/cm/sup 2//S. The number of fast neutrons from the reactor that reach the cell ( > 10 Mev) may be on the same order of magnitude as the number from the LiD source