Neutron energy spectrum measurement of the Back-n white neutron source at CSNS.

China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) has been built and commissioned successfully in 2018 which is implemented by impinging 1.6 GeV protons onto a tungsten target with 25 Hz repetition frequency. An associated white neutron beam line exploiting the back-streaming neutrons, named Back-n, with a flight path of 55 m in endstation 1 (#ES1) and 76 m in endstation 2 (#ES2) was built mainly for nuclear data measurements. The Back-n beam line started running since the beginning of 2018 and the neutron energy spectrum was measured at the very beginning since it is an essential information for feasibility study and analysis of any measurement. In this paper, the measurement of the neutron energy spectrum of Back-n #ES2 is reported. The first result of the neutron flux from 1 eV to 100 MeV measured by a fission chamber based on the ²³⁵U(n, f) reaction is presented. The total neutron flux normalized to the proton beam power of 100 kW is 7. 03 × 10 6 neutrons/cm²/s. The results show a good agreement with that of the Monte Carlo simulation as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]