Determination of the gamma-ray spectrum in a strong neutron/gamma-ray mixed field

The knowledge of gamma-ray spectrum highly affects the accuracy of the correspondingly derived gamma-ray dose and the correctness of calculated neutron dose in the neutron/gamma-ray mixed field dosimetry when using the paired ionization chambers technique. It is of our interest to develop a method to determine the gamma-ray spectrum in a strong neutron/gamma-ray mixed field. The current type detector, Mg(Ar) ionization chamber with 6 different thick caps incorporated with the unfolding technique, was used to determine the gamma-ray spectrum in the THOR epithermal neutron beam, which contains intense neutrons and gamma rays. The applied caps had nominal thicknesses from 1 to 6 mm. Detector response functions of the applied Mg(Ar) chamber with different caps were calculated using MCNP5 with a validated chamber model. The spectrum unfolding process was performed using the well-known SAND-II algorithm. The unfolded result was found much softer than the originally calculated spectrum at the design stage. A large portion of low energy continuum was shown in the adjusted spectrum. This work gave us a much deeper insight into the THOR epithermal neutron beam and also showed a way to determine the gamma-ray spectrum. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.