FAST NEUTRON THERMALIZATION AND CAPTURE GAMMA-RAY GENERATION IN SOILS

S.L. Shue, R.E. Faw, and J.K. Shultis, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506

ABSTRACT The penetration of 14-MeV neutrons into five representative soils is investigated with two independent neutron transport calculational procedures. From Monte Carlo and discrete-ordinates codes, the spatial distribution of the thermal fluence and the capture of neutrons in the soils is determined for two neutron source geometries. Finally, empirical approximations of the thermal neutron fluence in the soil are presented for use in PGNAA of contaminants in the soil.

KEYWORDS: PGNAA, soil, neutron fluence, capture gamma-rays, activation

This paper is from the Proceedings of the HSRC/WERC Joint Conference on the Environment, May 1996, published in hard copy and on the Web by the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substance Research Center.

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