Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2013 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 58, Number 13
Wednesday–Saturday, October 23–26, 2013; Newport News, Virginia
Session HJ: Applications of Nuclear Physics |
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Room: Blue Point I |
Friday, October 25, 2013 8:30AM - 8:42AM |
HJ.00001: Lithium Ion Batteries Used for Nuclear Forensics Erik B. Johnson, Christopher J. Stapels, X. Jie Chen, Chad Whitney, Keith E. Holbert, James F. Christian Nuclear forensics includes the study of materials used for the attribution a nuclear event. Analysis of the nuclear reaction products resulting both from the weapon and the material in the vicinity of the event provides data needed to identify the source of the nuclear material and the weapon design. The spectral information of the neutrons produced by the event provides information on the weapon configuration. The lithium battery provides a unique platform for nuclear forensics, as the Li-6 content is highly sensitive to neutrons, while the battery construction consists of various layers of materials. Each of these materials represents an element for a threshold detector scheme, where isotopes are produced in the battery components through various nuclear reactions that require a neutron energy above a fundamental threshold energy. This study looks into means for extracting neutron spectral information by understanding the isotopic concentration prior to and after exposure. The radioisotopes decay through gamma and beta emission, and radiation spectrometers have been used to measure the radiation spectra from the neutron exposed batteries. The batteries were exposed to various known neutron fields, and analysis was conducted to reconstruct the incident neutron spectra. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 25, 2013 8:42AM - 8:54AM |
HJ.00002: Neutrons Measurement from D$+$D Reaction at 5- and 7-MEV Deuteron Beam Energies Sushil Dhakal, Thomas Massey, Carl Brune The D$+$D reaction can produce neutrons through D(d,n)$^{3}$He as well as D(d,np)D and D(d,np)np reactions. The first reaction gives neutrons of single energy at a fixed angle for constant beam energy while the latter two produce low energy continuous spectrum neutrons. These neutrons from the first two reactions have been measured at different angles for deuteron beam energies of 5- and 7-MeV using a deuterium gas cell target. The D(d,n)$^{3}$He neutrons were measured from 0 to 135 degrees of detection angles and those from D(d,np)D were measured from 0 to 45 degrees. The time of flight technique with a 6-meter flight path was used to find the energy of the neutrons detected by three NE213 detectors. This cross section measurement was done using the 4.5-MV tandem accelerator at Edwards Accelerator Laboratory at Ohio University. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 25, 2013 8:54AM - 9:06AM |
HJ.00003: Neutron scattering studies of $^{54,56}$Fe with monoenergetic neutrons S.F. Hicks, B.M. Combs, S.L. Henderson, L.C. Sidwell, J.R. Vanhoy, E. Garza, J. Steves, A. Chakraborty, B.P. Crider, F.M. Prados-Estevez, A. Kumar, M.T. McEllistrem, E.E. Peters, T.J. Ross, S.W. Yates Neutron scattering data for Fe are important for the development of next generation fission reactors, since Fe is an important structural material in all proposed reactor designs, as well as in existing reactors. How neutrons interact with Fe has an important impact on fuel performance during irradiations and the overall efficiency of fission reactors. While differential scattering cross sections have been previously measured at several incident neutron energies in the fast neutron region, questions remain regarding the uncertainties for existing cross sections and for neutron inelastic scattering. Elastic and inelastic differential scattering cross sections have been measured on $^{54,56}$Fe at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory in the fast neutron energy region between 1.7 and 4 MeV. Results from our measurements and comparisons to model calculations will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 25, 2013 9:06AM - 9:18AM |
HJ.00004: ABSTRACT WITHDRAWN |
Friday, October 25, 2013 9:18AM - 9:30AM |
HJ.00005: Studies of Fission-Induced Surface Damage in Actinides Using Ultracold Neutrons Leah Broussard We report on a new program at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center to use ultracold neutrons (UCNs) to study fission in actinides such as uranium and plutonium. The fission cross section increases inversely with the neutron velocity, but has never been measured at UCN energies ($<$300~neV). Questions remain about the mechanism for fission-induced surface damage, especially regarding the effect of the presence of an oxide layer on the surface. Ultracold neutrons are an ideal tool for finely controlling fission as a function of depth in the material. We will present plans for preliminary experiments to study UCN-induced fission and the ejected material and early results. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 25, 2013 9:30AM - 9:42AM |
HJ.00006: Photodisintegration studies of actinides with laser-driven x-rays Sudeep Banerjee, J. Silano, G. Golovin, D. Haden, C. Liu, S. Chen, J. Zhang, I. Ghebregziabher, N. Powers, C. Petersen, K. Brown, J. Mills, B. Zhao, S. Clarke, S. Pozzi, H. Karwowski, D. Umstadter We present results on x-ray photo-activation and disintegration of actinides. Two x-ray sources are compared: bremsstrahlung and Thomson driven by laser-wakefield accelerated (100-400 MeV) electron beams. Bremsstrahlung is generated from high-Z converter and narrow band x-rays (\textless 50{\%} energy spread) are generated by Thomson scattering an intense laser pulse off the electron beam, resulting in high-flux (10$^{8}$ photons s$^{-1})$, polarized light, that is tunable [1]. We present data on delayed gamma rays and neutrons, and the production of fission fragments with half-lives from minutes to hours from photofission of $^{238}$U. We discuss possible selective activation and identification of specific materials and compare experimental results with simulations. \\[4pt] [1] S. Chen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 155003 (2013). [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 25, 2013 9:42AM - 9:54AM |
HJ.00007: ABSTRACT WITHDRAWN |
Friday, October 25, 2013 9:54AM - 10:06AM |
HJ.00008: The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Response Kathy McCormick On 3/11/11, the reactors at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in Japan were damaged by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake. Of the six reactors at the site, three were in operation prior to the event, and were automatically shut-down during the earthquake. Emergency cooling systems came online and were subsequently destroyed by a tsunami generated by the earthquake. For the operating reactors, all the reactor cores were exposed, resulting in overheating and the release of steam and hydrogen gas to the containment vessels, several of which subsequently exploded, releasing radioactivity into the atmosphere. The cores of the operating reactors melted down, and radioactive water was released to the ocean in cooling efforts. The primary radiation concerns in the United States from the disaster were radioactive plumes driven by westerly winds and contaminated commercial products and travelers. In the United States, one of the primary governmental organizations to respond to the disaster was U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has responsibility to oversee the safety and security of cargo and travelers entering the United States. This talk will describe the various types of radioactive commodities and events encountered by CBP in the U.S. from the Fukushima disaster. [Preview Abstract] |
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