Les installations de l'IRSN dédiées à la métrologie des neutrons

Abstract

The IRSN installations dedicated to the metrology of neutrons The Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) is in charge of the French references for neutron fluence and dosimetric quantities. Within this context the institute develops and exploits, at Cadarache, facilities producing reference neutron fields for different purposes. Some (radioactive sources emitting neutrons respecting ISO 8529-1 standard) are used for routine calibrations of measuring instruments. Others facilities produce "realistic" neutron fields, simulating fields encountered at workplaces by moderating neutron fields created by radioactive sources or accelerators. Finally, AMANDE facility, inaugurated in may 2005, produces mono-energetic neutron fields in the energy range from 2 keV to 20 MeV by nuclear reaction within different targets of charged particles accelerated up to 4 MeV. With this new facility, IRSN offers a very complete facility set to produce any type of neutron field recommended by international standards for calibration of neutron detection systems. © 2006 EDP Sciences.