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Beryllium reflectors are used at spallation neutron sources in order to enhance the low-energy flux of neutrons emanating from the surface of a cold and thermal moderator. The design of such a moderator/reflector system is typically carried out using detailed Monte-Carlo simulations, where the beryllium reflector is assumed to behave as a poly-crystalline material. In reality, however, inhomogeneities in the beryllium could lead to discrepancies between the performance of the actual system when compared to the modeled system. The dependence of the total cross-section in particular on crystallite size, in the Bragg scattering region, could influence the reflector performance, and if such an effect is significant, it should be taken into account in the design of the moderator/reflector system. In this paper, we report on the preliminary results of using cross-section libraries, which include corrections for the crystallite size effect, in spallation source neutronics calculations.

Monte Carlo radiation transport codes have become the primary tool for shielding and activation analysis at high-powered spallation neutron sources. However, use of these codes to model facilities that have large amounts of shielding requires the use of variance reduction methods. This paper presents examples that apply ADVANTG generated variance reduction parameters to analyses performed at ESS using MCNP6. This requires some limitations in ADVANTG to be overcome and little-known features to be used. The focus of this paper is to describe how these limitations were overcome so other analyst at spallation sources can benefit from these methods as well.

The European Spallation Source being constructed in Lund, Sweden will provide the user community with a neutron source of unprecedented brightness. By 2025, a suite of 15 instruments will be served by a high-brightness moderator system placed above the spallation target. The ESS infrastructure, consisting of the proton linac, the target station, and the instrument halls, allows for implementation of a second source below the spallation target. We propose to develop a second neutron source with a high-intensity moderator able to (1) deliver a larger total cold neutron flux, (2) provide high intensities at longer wavelengths in the spectral regions of Cold (4–10 Å), Very Cold (10–40 Å), and Ultra Cold (several 100 Å) neutrons, as opposed to Thermal and Cold neutrons delivered by the top moderator. Offering both unprecedented brilliance, flux, and spectral range in a single facility, this upgrade will make ESS the most versatile neutron source in the world and will further strengthen the leadership of Europe in neutron science. The new source will boost several areas of condensed matter research such as imaging and spin-echo, and will provide outstanding opportunities in fundamental physics investigations of the laws of nature at a precision unattainable anywhere else. At the heart of the proposed system is a volumetric liquid deuterium moderator. Based on proven technology, its performance will be optimized in a detailed engineering study. This moderator will be complemented by secondary sources to provide intense beams of Very- and Ultra-Cold Neutrons.

We present recent developments of improved modelling methods for simulating neutron transport in reflector materials of interest for neutron source applications. These include materials to be used as traditional reflectors around the neutron moderator, such as beryllium, and also novel materials, such as nanodiamond particles, to be used as a reflector for very-cold neutrons in the neutron beam extraction area of a neutron scattering instrument. Of particular interest is the inclusion of physical effects that are not modelled in standard thermal scattering libraries used for Monte-Carlo simulations, such as extinction in beryllium reflectors and effects of small-angle neutron scattering from nanodiamond particles.

NaOH was recently proposed as a moderator for the compact molten salt reactors, under development by Seaborg Technologies. In order to reliably predict the thermalisation of neutrons in such a reactor, the simulations must be based on modelling which accurately accounts for the low-energy neutron interactions in NaOH. This information is contained within thermal scattering libraries that are used during Monte-Carlo simulations. In this paper, we present the results of neutron scattering experiments carried out at VESUVIO, ISIS in order to facilitate the development thermal scattering libraries for solid NaOH.

In this paper we present results of combining ring-polymer molecular dynamics with the LEAPR and THEMR modules of NJOY to generate thermal neutron scattering libraries for liquid para-hydrogen and ortho-deuterium. We present the methodology and show that it produces results that are in good agreement with data from both recent available measurements and previous theoretical studies. We also present some simple benchmark Monte-Carlo simulations compared with other available libraries.

The European Spallation Source bunker is a common shielding area that surrounds the target monolith, protecting the instrument areas from the high dose of ionizing radiation that accompanies the spallation reaction. A comprehensive neutronic work was performed, which took into account dose rates outside the bunker wall and roof, skyshine and activation. A wall with a thickness of 3.5 m and a stepped roof with a thickness of 1–1.5 m, both made of heavy concrete with a density of 3.8 g/cm3, were recognized as the best solution that satisfies the radioprotection requirements for the operation of the facility.

The HIBEAM/NNBAR program is a proposed two-stage experiment at the European Spallation Source focusing on searches for baryon number violation via processes in which neutrons convert to antineutrons. This paper outlines the computing and detector simulation framework for the HIBEAM/NNBAR program. The simulation is based on predictions of neutron flux and neutronics together with signal and background generation. A range of diverse simulation packages are incorporated, including Monte Carlo transport codes, neutron ray-tracing simulation packages, and detector simulation software. The common simulation package in which these elements are interfaced together is discussed. Data management plans and triggers are also described., Comment: Contribution to CHEP2021. Accepted for publication in the European Physical Journal (EPJ) Web of Conferences

Transport calculations for neutronic design require accurate nuclear data and validated computational tools. In the Spallation Physics Group, at the European Spallation Source, we perform shielding and neutron beam calculations to help the deployment of the instrument suite for the current high brilliance (top) moderator, as well for the design of the high intensity bottom moderator, currently under study for the facility. This work includes providing the best available nuclear data in addition to improving models and tools when necessary. In this paper we present the status of these activities, which include a set of thermal scattering kernels for moderator, reflector, and structural materials, the development of new kernels for beryllium considering crystallite size effects, nanodiamonds, liquid hydrogen and deuterium based on path integral molecular dynamics, and the use of the software package NCrystal to assist the development of nuclear data in the framework of the new HighNESS project., Comment: UCANS-Web 2020

A combined measurement and Monte-Carlo simulation study was carried out in order to characterize the particle self-shielding effect of B4C grains in neutron shielding concrete. Several batches of a specialized neutron shielding concrete, with varying B4C grain sizes, were exposed to a 2 {\AA} neutron beam at the R2D2 test beamline at the Institute for Energy Technology located in Kjeller, Norway. The direct and scattered neutrons were detected with a neutron detector placed behind the concrete blocks and the results were compared to Geant4 simulations. The particle self-shielding effect was included in the Geant4 simulations by calculating effective neutron cross-sections during the Monte-Carlo simulation process. It is shown that this method well reproduces the measured results. Our results show that shielding calculations for low-energy neutrons using such materials would lead to an underestimate of the shielding required for a certain design scenario if the particle self-shielding effect is not included in the calculations., Comment: This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

In neutron scattering experiments there is an increasing trend towards the study of smaller volume samples, which make the use of focusing optics more important. Focusing guide geometries based on conic-sections, such as those with parabolic and elliptic shapes, have been extensively used in both recently built neutron instruments and upgrades of existing hardware. A large fraction of proposed instruments at the European Spallation Source feature the requirement of good performance when measuring on small samples. The optimised design of a focusing system comes after time consuming Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations. Therefore, in order to help reduce the time needed to design such focusing systems, it is necessary to study systematically the performance of focusing guides. In the present work, we perform a theoretical analysis of the focusing properties of neutron beams, and validate them using a combination of Monte-Carlo simulations and Particle Swarm Optimisations (PS0s), where there is a close correspondence between the maximum divergence of the beam and the shape of the guide. The analytical results show that two limits can be considered, which bound a range of conic section shapes that provide optimum performance. Finally, we analyse a more realistic guide example and we give an assessment of the importance of the contribution from multiple reflections in different systems. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The European Spallation Source is being constructed in Lund, Sweden and is planned to be the world's brightest pulsed spallation neutron source for cold and thermal neutron beams ($\le$ 1 eV). The facility uses a 2 GeV proton beam to produce neutrons from a tungsten target. The neutrons are then moderated in a moderator assembly consisting of both liquid hydrogen and water compartments. Surrounding the moderator are 22 beamports, which view the moderator's outside surfaces. The beamports are connected to long neutron guides that transport the moderated neutrons to the sample position via reflections. As well as the desired moderated neutrons, fast neutrons coming directly from the target can find their way down the beamlines. These can create unwanted sources of background for the instruments. To mitigate such a kind of background, several instruments will use curved guides to lose direct line-of-sight (LoS) to the moderator and the target. In addition instruments can also use shielding collimators to reduce the amount of fast neutrons further traveling down the guide due to albedo reflections or streaming. Several different materials have been proposed for this purpose. We present the results of a study of different options for collimators and identify the optimal choices that balance cost, background and activation levels., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, Proceeding of the 4th International Workshop on Accelerator Radiation Induced Activation - ARIA'17, May 22-24, 2017 Lund, Sweden

We present an implementation of a general weight window generator for global variance reduction in Geant4 based applications. The implementation is flexible and can be easily adjusted to a user-defined model. In this work, the weight-window generator was applied to calculations based on an instrument shielding model of the European Spallation Source, which is currently under construction in Lund, Sweden. The results and performance of the implemented methods were evaluated through the definition of two figures of merit. It was found that the biased simulations showed an overall improvement in performance compared to the unbiased simulations. The present work demonstrates both the suitability of the generator method and Geant4 for these types of calculations. (C) 2015 Elsevier By. All rights reserved. (Less)

A program for building level schemes from gamma-spectroscopy coincidence data has been developed. The scheme builder was equipped with two different algorithms: a statistical one based on the Metropolis method and a more logical one, called REMP (REcurse, Merge and Permute), developed from scratch. These two methods are compared both on ideal cases and on experimental gamma-ray data sets. The REMP algorithm is based on coincidences and transition energies. Using correct and complete coincidence data, it has solved approximately half a million schemes without failures. Also, for incomplete data and data with minor errors, the algorithm produces consistent sub-schemes when it is not possible to obtain a complete scheme from the provided data. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)

A method based on the coupled decay-chain equations for extracting the isotopic and the isomeric composition of a postaccelerated radioactive ion beam is presented and demonstrated on a data set from a Coulomb excitation experiment. This is the first attempt of analyzing the content of a postaccelerated radioactive ion beam using this technique. The beam composition is required for an absolute normalization of the measurement. The strength of the method, as compared to present online-based methods, lies in the determination of the isomeric fraction of a partially isomeric beam using all data accumulated during the experiment. We discuss the limitations and sensitivity of the method with respect to the gamma-ray detection efficiency and the accumulated flux. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A small-scale prototype of the CALIFA calorimeter, which is a subsystem of the R 3 B detector, has been constructed and tested using the 179 MeV proton beam at The Svedberg Laboratory, Uppsala, Sweden. The prototype consists of 15 Csl(Tl) elements with a size of 10 x 30 x 130 mm(3), assembled in a 3 x 5 array. Each crystal was individually tested using gamma-ray sources and the light output uniformity along the longitudinal axes was adjusted to better than 0.6%. An energy resolution of similar to 0.5% has been achieved with a technique consisting of non-uniform polishing/lapping of the crystal side facets. The performance of the prototype is evaluated using experimental data and GEANT4 simulations. Results from the experiment, including multiplicity and sum spectra, show good agreement with simulations. The quality requirements for Csl(Tl) elements for construction of a high precision calorimeter/spectrometer are summarized. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)

Graphite is of principal interest in Generation IV nuclear reactor concepts. In particular, graphite will be the moderator for the Very High Temperature Reactor. In support of experimental and computational investigations that aim at understanding the behavior of reactor grade graphite under operating conditions, neutron powder diffraction experiments have been performed at the North Carolina State University PULSTAR reactor. The collected diffraction patterns exhibit intense broadening of several of the reflections, characteristic of turbostratic stacking. In order to quantify this disorder structurally, a model combined with a Rietveld-like refinement approach was implemented, which includes several refinable parameters that aim at describing this type of structure. Stacking parameters representing the probabilities of a random and registered shift between stacking packages were defined. The results indicate that the studied reactor grade graphite specimens contain a small fraction of layer disorder. The inferred interlayer spacing for the specimens is slightly larger than the theoretical value for graphite of 0.335 nm and the lattice constant is slightly less than 0.246 nm. The developed methodology is found to be successful in fitting the neutron diffraction patterns of reactor grade graphite.

The optimum configuration of a Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM) neutron detector using a CsI–Gd–Kapton–Gd–CsI neutron converter is investigated using Monte-Carlo simulations. Neutrons absorbed in the converter produce secondary electrons that are emitted from the CsI layers. The detector can be assembled from multiple modules where each module consists of the neutron converter, several cascaded GEMs and anode pickup plates on both sides. Position sensitive anodes and localization electronics are then used to detect, timestamp and record the resulting signal. For a single GEM module, the performance can be assessed by estimating the secondary electron (SE) leakage from the converter sandwich. The simulations show that the optimum for a single module, double-sided detector would have a neutron converter composed of 0.1 μm CsI on top of 3 μm Gd plated on each side of a 7.5 μm thick Kapton foil. This detector would have a SE yield of approximately 0.6 SE/neutron and neutron absorption of 60%. Significant enhancements of the SE yield can be obtained for detectors composed of multiple modules with thinner Gd converters. The multi-module design allows for enhanced SE leakage from each converter while maintaining the high neutron absorption efficiency of thicker converters and dividing the detector count rate among multiple sets of decoding electronics.

A. Wendt et al. ; 1 pag. ; PACS number(s): 21.10.Hw, 23.20.Js, 25.70.De, 27.30.+t, 99.10.Fg

Reduced transition strengths of the deexciting transitions from the first two excited states in 33Ar were measured in a relativistic Coulomb excitation experiment at the GSI Helmholtz center. The radioactive ion beam was produced by fragmentation of a primary 36Ar beam on a 9Be target followed by the selection of the reaction product of interest via the GSI Fragment Separator. The 33Ar beam hit a secondary 197Au target with an energy of approximately 145 MeV/nucleon. An array of high-purity germanium cluster detectors and large-volume BaF2 scintillator detectors were employed for γ -ray spectroscopy at the secondary target position. The Lund-York-Cologne Calorimeter was used to track the outgoing ions and to identify the nuclear reaction channels. For the two lowest energy excited states of 33Ar the reduced transition strengths have been determined. With these first results the Tz = −3/2 nucleus 33Ar is now, together with 21Na (Tz = −1/2), the only neutron-deficient odd-A sd shell nucleus in which experimental transition strengths are available. The experimental values are compared to results of shell-model calculations which describe simultaneously mirror-energy differences and transition-strength values of mirror pairs in the sd shell in a consistent way

G. Guastalla, et al. XX International School on Nuclear Physics, Neutron Physics and Applications (Varna 2013); 5 pags.; 1 fig., The analysis of the Coulomb excitation experiment conducted on 104Sn required a strict selection of the data in order to reduce the large background present in the γ-ray energy spectra and identify the γ-ray peak corresponding to the Coulomb excitation events. As a result the B(E2; 0+ →2+) value could be extracted, which established the downward trend towards 100Sn and therefore the robustness of the N=Z=50 core against quadrupole excitations. Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd, A. J. would like to thank the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion for financial support under Contract No. FPA2011-29854- C04

A measurement of the reduced transition probability for the excitation of the ground state to the first 2+ state in 104Sn has been performed using relativistic Coulomb excitation at GSI. 104Sn is the lightest isotope in the Sn chain for which this quantity has been measured. The result is a key point in the discussion of the evolution of nuclear structure in the proximity of the doubly magic nucleus 100Sn. The value B(E2; 0+ → 2+) = 0.10(4) e2b2 is significantly lower than earlier results for 106Sn and heavier isotopes. The result is well reproduced by shell model predictions and therefore indicates a robust N = Z = 50 shell closure.

The radioactive isotope 107In was studied using sub-barrier Coulomb excitation at the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN. Two γ rays were observed during the experiment, corresponding to the low-lying 11/2+ and 3/2− states. The reduced transition probability of the 11/2+ state was determined with the semiclassical Coulomb excitation code GOSIA2. The result is discussed in comparison to large-scale shell-model calculations, previous unified-model calculations, and earlier Coulomb excitation measurements in the odd-mass In isotopes. ispartof: Physical Review C, Nuclear Physics vol:87 issue:1 status: published

A set of B(E2) values for the low-lying excited states in the radioactive isotope Sn-109 were deduced from a Coulomb excitation experiment. The 2.87-MeV/u radioactive beam was produced at the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN and was incident on a secondary Ni-58 target. The B(E2) values were determined using the known 2(+) -> 0(+) reduced transition probability in Ni-58 as normalization with the semiclassical Coulomb excitation code GOSIA2. The transition probabilities are compared to shell-model calculations based on a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction and the predictions of a simple core-excitation model. This measurement represents the first determination of multiple B(E2) values in a light Sn nucleus using the Coulomb excitation technique with low-energy radioactive beams. The results provide constraints for the single-neutron states relative to Sn-100 and also indicate the importance of both single-neutron and collective excitations in the light Sn isotopes. (Less)

Excited states of the nucleus Er-170 have been studied by Coulomb excitation using the GASP gamma-ray detector system at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro. The ground-state band along with a low-lying K-pi = 0(+) band and gamma-vibrational band were populated during the experiment. Based on the measured gamma-ray yields, a set of interband and intraband matrix elements has been extracted using the Coulomb excitation code GOSIA. The resulting E2 matrix elements are compared to collective model predictions.

Using the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN the Coulomb excitation cross sections for the 0(gs)(+)-> 2(1)(+) transition in the beta-unstable isotopes Cd-100,Cd-102,Cd-104 have been measured for the first time. Two different targets were used, which allows for the first extraction of the static electric quadrupole moments Q(2(1)(+)) in Cd-102,Cd-104. In addition to the B(E2) values in Cd-102,Cd-104, a first experimental limit for the B(E2) value in Cd-100 is presented. The data was analyzed using the maximum likelihood method. The provided probability distributions impose a test for theoretical predictions of the static and dynamic moments. The data are interpreted within the shell-model using realistic matrix elements obtained from a G-matrix renormalized CD-Bonn interaction. In view of recent results for the light Sn isotopes the data are discussed in the context of a renormalization of the neutron effective charge. This study is the first to use the reorientation effect for post-accelerated short-lived radioactive isotopes to simultaneously determine the B(E2) and the Q(2(1)(+)) values. (Less)

In this work, we present recent shell model calculations, based on a realistic nucleon–nucleon interaction, for the light 107, 109Sn nuclei. By combining the calculations with the semi-classical Coulomb excitation code GOSIA, a set of γ-ray intensities has been generated. The calculated intensities are compared with the data from recent Coulomb excitation studies in inverse kinematics at the REX-ISOLDE facility with the nucleus 107Sn. The results are discussed in the context of the ordering of the single-particle orbits relative to 100Sn.

A Coulomb excitation experiment in inverse kinematics has been carried out at the REX-ISOLDE facility in order to study the properties of low-lying excited states in Sn-107. The measured gamma ray spectrum has been compared with predicted gamma ray spectra from a combined shell-model and GOSIA analysis. In this approach, a set of matrix elements, generated within the shell-model framework, based on a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction and a set of single-particle energies relative to Sn-100, is used as input. Comparison between the calculated and predicted spectra can be used to help identify the placement of the single-neutron states in Sn-101. In particular, the results can potentially provide clues on the ordering of the two lowest-lying orbits; the g(7/2) and d(5/2) states.