Neutron Interaction With Matter

Neutron Interactions with Matter
Radioactivity - Radionuclides - Radiation

8th Multi-Media Training Course with Nuclides.net
(Institute Josžef Stefan, Ljubljana,
13th - 15th September 2006)
Thursday, 14th September 2006
Dr. David Hamilton

European Commission
Institute for Transuranium Elements
Postfach 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany
E-mail: [email protected]
Why are Neutron Interactions Important?
• Common sources of neutrons used in science and industry:

– Nuclear reactors;
– Nuclear fusion sources (D-T generators);
– Accelerator-based sources (spallation);
– Radioactive decay (252Cf).
• Also produced from other radiation
types through secondary nuclear reactions.
• Highly-penetrating, indirectly ionising radiation.
• Can induce large radioactive doses through
activation in the body.
• Widely used in nuclear industry, material
research, imaging, medical physics ... ATR, US DoE, Idaho National Lab
The Neutron
• Discovered in 1932 by Chadwick (Cambridge).

• Net Charge = 0
very weak electromagnetic interaction,
penetrates matter easily, no direct atomic
ionisation.
• Mass = 939.56 MeV/c2
slightly heavier than proton.
• Lifetime = 886.7 s
free neutrons undergo beta decay
• Magnetic Moment = -1.91 μN
sensitive to magnetic properties of
materials.
• Spin = ½
spin-dependent interaction with nucleus.
Neutron Energy Regimes Dominant Interactions
• Cold < 1 meV • Diffraction

• Thermal < 0.5 eV • Elastic Scattering
• Epithermal 0.5 eV – 50 keV • Nuclear Reactions:
• Fast > 50 keV – Radiative Capture (n,γ)
• Medium energy > 1 MeV – Other Captures (n,p) or (n,α)
– Inelastic Scattering (n,x)
• High energy > 10 MeV
– Nuclear Fission (n,f)
Cold Thermal Epithermal Fast Medium Energy High Energy
Diffraction Fission
Elastic Scattering
Capture Inelastic Scattering

Neutron Interactions: General Characteristics
• In contrast to electrons, photons and heavy charged particles, neutrons undergo

extremely weak electromagnetic interactions.
• Neutrons therefore pass through matter largely unimpeded, only interacting with
atomic nuclei.
• Even these nuclear reactions have a low probability associated with them.
• This makes neutron transport calculations very difficult; as we are dealing with
statistical phenomena, we must resort to Monte Carlo techniques (MCNP).
• In radiation protection, neutron shielding is also
not straightforward: one needs to use a material
with a high probability of absorbing neutrons
(such as concrete, paraffin, borated water or
borated polyethylene) .
San Diego Plastics

Neutron Cross Sections (I)
• Cross section is a measure of the probability

for a reaction between two particles to occur.
• Unit of cross section is the barn, which has
the dimensions of area – analogy with target
size.
• Microscopic cross section defines probability
of reaction between neutron and an
individual particle or nucleus, i.e. 235U.
• Macroscopic cross section defines
probability of interaction between neutron
and some bulk material, i.e. concrete
• Three most common types of reaction
cross sections are absorption, fission and
scattering.
Neutron Cross Sections (II)
238U Capture Cross Section, CEA
• Macroscopic cross section is related to mean free path (λ).

• λ is the average path length in material between two collisions.
1. Diffraction:
Neutrons as Wave-like Probes of Matter
• Basic quantum mechanics tells us that the neutron exhibits wave-like properties.
• The wavelength is defined by the de Broglie relation.
• Thermal/cold neutrons have wavelengths on the order of crystal lattice spacing.
• Neutrons are therefore a natural complement to X-rays in condensed matter
physics. They are sensitive to magnetic distributions, not charge distributions.
MIT Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

2. Elastic Neutron-Nucleus
Scattering A(n,n)A
• Energy and direction of neutron

altered.
• No intermediate excitation of recoil
nucleus.
• Dominant energy loss process at
intermediate to high energies.
• Process responsible for Neutron

Moderation (slowing down)
Energy Loss 2 MeV – 0.025 eV:

– A=1 Ncollisions = 18
– A = 12 Ncollisions = 115
– A = 238 Ncollisions = 2172 Univ. Rochester, Nuclear Science and Technology
3. Radiative Capture 4. Other Capture

(n,γ) Reactions (n,p), (n,α) ...
• Radiative capture reactions involve • Other neutron absorption processes

absorption of neutrons followed by exist, such as proton or alpha
emission of gamma rays. particle emission.
• Very important in radiation • Important examples include
protection and reactor physics: 10B(n,α) (BNCT) and 3He(n,p)
certain nuclides have very large (neutron detection).

capture cross sections (resonances) • Boron is the most common element
at low energies. added to low Z materials in neutron
• Therefore, neutron shielding shielding
usually includes a material to slow
down neutrons and a material to
then absorb the slow neutrons.
• Important capture nuclides include
Boron, Cadmium and Gadolinium
5. Inelastic Scattering
A(n,n’)A*
• When neutron-nucleus
scattering occurs with
neutron energies above
several MeV, it becomes
possible for the neutron to
transfer sufficient energy to
the target nucleus to induce
an excited nuclear state.
• Neutrons which are
inelastically scattered
typically lose large fractions
of their initial energy, while
secondary radiation is
produced as the target Univ. Rochester, Nuclear Science and Technology
nucleus returns to its ground
state.
6. Neutron Induced Fission

(n,f)
• Neutron induced nuclear fission, whereby a heavy nucleus is split into two or more
smaller nuclei, was discovered by Hahn, Strassmann, Frisch and Meitner in 1939.
• Because the nuclear binding energies of these smaller nuclei (fission products,
with Z around 100) are larger than the binding energies of heavy nuclei, nuclear
fission is associated with large releases of energy.
• Many heavy nuclei are fissionable but Uranium,
Plutonium and Thorium are the most important
fissile nuclides in the nuclear fuel cycle.
• By-products of fission include neutrons, photons
and other radiation types. This leads to the concepts
of neutron multiplication and chain reaction.
• First sustained chain reaction took place in 1942 in
Chicago (CP-1) by a team led by Fermi.
• More on nuclear fission in the next talk ...
Summary
• A neutron radiation field differs in many important respects from "ionising

radiation" such as photons, electrons and heavy charged particles.
• These fundamental differences are due to the very weak nature of
electromagnetic interactions involving neutrons.
• Neutron interactions are dominated by collisions with nuclei, leading to
scattering, capture or fission.
• Neutron shielding and associated calculations are both complicated.
• The health risk associated with neutrons is significant as they are highly
penetrating and can induce secondary deep body ionising radiation doses.
Selected Relevant Publications
• J.R. Dunning et al, Interactions of Neutrons with Matter

Phys. Rev. 48, 265–280 (1935)
• A. Foderaro, The Elements of Neutron Interaction Theory
MIT Press, Cambridge, USA (1971)
• P. Rinard, Neutron Interactions with Matter
Los Alamos Technical Report
http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/lib-www/la-pubs/00326407.pdf
• J. Martin, Physics for Radiation Protection
John Wiley and Sons, New York, USA (2000)
• Neutron Interactions and Applications, Spring 2005
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Nuclear-Engineering/22-106Spring-2005/CourseHome/index.htm

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Neutron Interactions with Matter

Radioactivity - Radionuclides - Radiation

Thursday, 14th September 2006

Neutron Interactions with Matter

Dr. David Hamilton

Why are Neutron Interactions Important?

• Common sources of neutrons used in science and industry:

• Discovered in 1932 by Chadwick (Cambridge).

Neutron Energy Regimes Dominant Interactions

• Cold < 1 meV • Diffraction

Cold Thermal Epithermal Fast Medium Energy High Energy

Capture Inelastic Scattering

Neutron Interactions: General Characteristics

• In contrast to electrons, photons and heavy charged particles, neutrons undergo

San Diego Plastics

Neutron Cross Sections (I)

• Cross section is a measure of the probability

Neutron Cross Sections (II)

238U Capture Cross Section, CEA

• Macroscopic cross section is related to mean free path (λ).

MIT Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

• Energy and direction of neutron

• Process responsible for Neutron

Energy Loss 2 MeV – 0.025 eV:

3. Radiative Capture 4. Other Capture

• Radiative capture reactions involve • Other neutron absorption processes

certain nuclides have very large (neutron detection).

6. Neutron Induced Fission

• A neutron radiation field differs in many important respects from "ionising

Selected Relevant Publications

• J.R. Dunning et al, Interactions of Neutrons with Matter

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