Determination of α in the Cadmium Lined Irradiation Channel of the NIRR-1 for Use in k_o-ENAA

F. T. Sheyin^1*, M. O. A. Oladipo¹, S. A. Jonah¹, U. Sadiq²

¹Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
²Department of Physics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/wjnst.2015.53023                

Abstract

The epithermal neutron shape factor (α) was determined in the permanent cadmium lined irradiation channel installed in the large outer irradiation site of the Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR- 1) by the cadmium covered multimonitor method using the monitors Al-0.1% Au, Zr and Zn thin foils and Mo thin wire and was found to be -0.137 ± 0.018. The high negative value of α indicates a hardened epithermal neutron spectrum in the cadmium lined irradiation channel. The α value obtained was used in the single comparator method of ENAA (k_o-ENAA) for the determination of the concentrations of elements in the standard reference material NIST 1515 Apple leaves using Al-0.1% Au thin foil as the single comparator. The concentrations of the elements Sm and Br were determined in the NIST 1515 Apple leaves because of their high Q_o values and are in good agreement with the certified values.

Keywords

α Value, Cadmium Covered Multimonitor Method, Cadmium Lined Irradiation Channel, k_o-ENAA

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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