Optimizing resin shielding for neutron diffractometer detectors

In nuclear techniques, specific materials are used to shield detectors. For quick scan during kinetic analysis of materials, multi-detector systems are used in neutron diffraction where borated hydrogenated-materials are used to shield detectors from the neutron background. For shielding enhancement, the B4C powder is eventually added for better protection. Then, neutron shielding calculations play a vital role in optimizing detector system design. The present work aims to establish, by SCALE6.1 code simulation, some neutron shielding parameters of borated and non-borated resin. For an eventual use in the newly designed multi-detector system for Es-Salam neutron diffractometer, the simulation has been done for different monochromatic neutron-beams that can be used to investigate different structural properties of materials. The neutron behavior of the C57H65O10 resin without and with 5 wt% boron has been studied for different monochromatic neutron-beam. The backscattered neutron flux, the backscattering depth and the transmission- off thickness are analyzed and evaluated. They are reduced following the B4C addition for each studied neutron-energy and a good diffraction data can be obtained. The obtained results permit to establish the corresponding shielding condition for an optimized design with the lowest mechanical loading on any neutron- scattering instrument detection-system.