Neutron capture radiography

Gabel, D., Holstein, H., Larsson, B., GiUe, L., Ericson, G., Sacker, D., Som, P., and Fairchild, R. G. 1987. Quantitative neutron capture radiography for studying the biodistribution of tumor-seeking boron-containing compounds. Cancer Res. 47 5451-5454. 

General articles concerning boron neutron capture therrqry (BNCTT) and neutron capture radiography have appeared l and include reports of new methods of the synthesis of boron... 

Probst,T.U., Berryman, N. G., Lemmen, P., andWeissfloch.L. (1997). Comparison of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with quantitative neutron capture radiography for the determination ofboron in biological samples from cancer thenpy.]. Anal. At. Spectrom. 12(10), 1115. 

Currently, the reactor operates at 4 MW and is used mainly for radioisotope production, neutron activation analysis, neutron radiography, and research studies, including nuclear physics experiments and boron neutron capture therapy. A further power increase to 5 MW is... 

It is supposed to apply this neutron source to nondestmctive evaluation of products using neutron radiography and elemental analysis of materials by detection of capture gamma rays. 

Various isotope applications are used to monitor the quality of materials and structures. Isotopic tracer techniques measure wear, corrosion, moisture, leakage, and many other factors. Neutron radiography creates images of materials that are not as dense as those captured in X-ray photos. This method is used chiefly to check uranium fuel in nuclear reactors for flaws, to find cracks in the inner plastic or aluminium parts of airplanes, or to detect tiny fissures in gas turbine blades. Californium-252 is used for neutron radiography and neutron activation analyses. 

All the possible applications of Cf neutron sources (neutron radiography, mineral exploration, marine exploration, oil well logging, process control analysis, and, of course, neutron activation analysis) are reported in Californium-252 Progress , a bulletin issued regularly by the U.S.A.E.C. Ricci and Handley have reported favourable results of the use of a 0.37 mg Cf for activation analysis. The source produced thermal, epi-thermal, and fast neutron fluxes of 9.3 x 10 , 9.4 x 10, and ca. 10 cm s respectively, normalized to 1 mg Cf. The limits of detection for many elements using thermal and fast reactions were estimated, these ranging from 0.11 mg of Au to 3.7 g of Pb by the ° Pb(n,n ) Pb reaction. Trombka et al. used a 125 fig source for the in situ analysis of extended soil seunples using both NaI(Tl) and Ge(Li) spectroscopy to measure capture y radiation the elements Mn, Ti, Si, Fe, H, and Ca were all identified. 

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