Present status and problems of neutron spectrum unfolding method in reactor dosimetry

Abstract

Neutron spectrum unfolding is a widely used technique for characterizing neutron fields for various types of reactor dosimetry, where the neutron spectrum is derived from integral measured data such as multiple-foil activation rates and moderated neutron detector counts. Many spectrum unfolding codes have been developed so far and their performances have been compared. However, a standardized metrology for neutron spectrum unfolding has not been satisfactorily established yet from the viewpoints of adequate selection and usage of unfolding codes, response function database and input data set preparation. This article reviews the present status of the neutron spectrum unfolding technique that is mainly related to reactor dosimetry with activation foils and discusses the validity of the solution spectra obtained from different unfolding codes under a typical fast reactor neutron field. The results show that the solution spectrum strongly depends on a priori (i.e., guess) spectrum required for the input data as well as the theoretical assumption in each unfolding code. The issues that must be resolved to improve the accuracy of reactor dosimetry are summarized for the a priori input spectrum, the nuclear database, and the standardization of the unfolding procedure. © 2011 Atomic Energy Society of Japan, All Rights Reserved.