Development of a wide-range paired scintillator with optical fiber neutron monitor for BNCT irradiation field study

A wide range thermal neutron detector was developed based on the Scintillator with Optical Fiber (SOF) detector which has been previously used for thermal neutron monitoring during boron neutron capture therapy irradiation. With this new detector system we intended to address the issues of real-time thermal neutron flux measurement and the simultaneous measurement of a wide range of thermal neutron flux in a BNCT irradiation field which were difficult to implement with the gold wire activation method. The dynamic range of linearity of the SOF detector was expanded by using a plastic scintillator with a rapid decay time. On the other hand, the contribution of gamma rays and fast neutrons in the measured signals were compensated from those obtained by a pair of SOF detectors, one with a (LiF)-Li-6 neutron converter and the other without. The discrimination level for the measured signals was also optimized to further reduce the contribution of gamma rays and fast neutrons signals. A non-paralyzable system model was applied to correct for the dead-time in the detector system. A good agreement between the thermal neutron flux measured by the gold wire activation method and the paired SOF detector system was observed. However, measurements which would normally take a few days to perform with the gold wire activation method were obtained in just about 15 min using the SOF detector system. We also confirmed the dynamic range of linearity for the SOF detector system to be in the order of magnitude of 10(4). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.