Measurement of 14 MeV Neutron Flux from D-T Neutron Generator Using Activation Analysis

Flux measurement of an accelerator based D-T neutron generator was achieved by the activation technique. The neutron generator can produce maximum neutron yield of 1.9 x 10(10) n/sec at the Tritium-target. For the measurement of 14 MeV neutron flux, Cu-63(n, 2n)Cu-62 and Al-27(n, p)Mg-27 reactions are most suitable because of their higher threshold energies 11.03 MeV and 3.25 MeV respectively. Measurement of gamma-ray activities from Cu-62 and Mg-27 is used to measure 14 MeV neutron flux. NaI(Tl) scintillation and High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors were used for the gamma-radiation measurement from Cu-62 and Mg-27 respectively. In this paper the 14 MeV neutron flux measurement by Cu-63 and Al-27 activation is discussed. The method could also serve as a diagnostics tool for measurement of high-energy neutron flux.