Monte Carlo calculation of spatial distribution and energy spectrum of 14 MeV neutrons produced in reactor thermal column by an enriched sup 6 Lid compound

The Monte Carlo technique has been used to study the possibility of 14 MeV neutrons production by enriched sup 6 Li D compound irradiated in thermal neutrons flux of reactor. The Li D converter has proved a satisfactory efficiency thanks to the very large cross section of primary reaction sup 6 Li(n,t) sup 4 He, that lead to mono kinetic triton production at thermal neutron energy, and high thick target yield of the fusion reaction D(t,n) sup 4 He. The motivation of this work is to make it possible to release high threshold reactions as (n,2 n), (n,p) and (n,alpha) on light nuclei in a reactor thermal column. A Monte Carlo computing program has been established to calculate spatial distribution and energy spectrum of fast neutrons produced by Li D sample placed in thermal neutrons field. The mean energy and energy spread of neutrons have been calculated. Calculations performed for a cylinder and square shape sample containing enriched sup 6 Li D has led to a conversion factor, defined as a ratio of fast flux to thermal flux, of about 10 sup 4 and neutron energy range of (14.02 (+) (-) 0.96) MeV. The simulation result shows a good agreement with the few measurements available in the literature. 1 fig., 4 refs. (Author)