Calculation of neutron production in selected materials by beam of charged particles of intermediate energies

A comparison study on calculation of neutron production by beam of protons and deuterons in different target materials, in energy range from 10 MeV to 75 MeV, is shown in the paper. An idealised cylindrical target is bombarded, along the central axis, perpendicularly at target base, by an infinite thin particle beam. Simulation is carried out for the target material surrounded by void, i. e. the 'return effect' from possible surrounding materials in a real system is not encountered. The study is carried out using Monte Carlo based computer codes for intermediate and high-energy nucleon transport: LCS, ver. 2.7 (LANL, USA) and SHIELD (INR, Russia). Total number of emitted neutrons in 4π solid angle per incident particle (Yield) and spectrum of emitted neutrons escaping the target surfaces are determined for different targets materials: 208Pb/Pb, 238U/U, 184W/W, Be and 7Li. Maximum neutron yield, near 30%, is calculated for proton beam energy of 75 MeV bombarding 238U/U target, shaped as mentioned above. Generally, neutron yield for deuteron beam is less than neutron yield for proton beam of the same energy for targets made from high-Z nuclides. The opposite conclusion is derived for the target made from low-Z nuclides materials. (author)