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Neutron transport (also known as neutronics) is the study of the motions and interactions of neutrons with materials. Nuclear scientists and engineers often need to know where neutrons are in an apparatus, in what direction they are going, and how quickly they are moving.
Neutrons interact with atomic nuclei and with magnetic fields from unpaired electrons, causing pronounced interference and energy transfer effects in neutron scattering experiments. Unlike an x-ray photon with a similar wavelength, which interacts with the electron cloud surrounding the nucleus , neutrons interact primarily with the nucleus ...
They are named fast neutrons to distinguish them from lower-energy thermal neutrons, and high-energy neutrons produced in cosmic showers or accelerators. Fast neutrons are produced by nuclear processes: Nuclear fission: thermal fission of 235 U produces neutrons with a mean energy of 2 MeV (200 TJ/kg, i.e. 20,000 km/s), [17] which qualifies as ...
Neutron flux in asymptotic giant branch stars and in supernovae is responsible for most of the natural nucleosynthesis producing elements heavier than iron.In stars there is a relatively low neutron flux on the order of 10 5 to 10 11 cm −2 s −1, resulting in nucleosynthesis by the s-process (slow neutron-capture process).
In dosimetry, linear energy transfer (LET) is the amount of energy that an ionizing particle transfers to the material traversed per unit distance. It describes the action of radiation into matter. It is identical to the retarding force acting on a charged ionizing particle travelling through the matter. [ 1 ]
In neutron time-of-flight scattering, a form of inelastic neutron scattering, the initial position and velocity of a pulse of neutrons are fixed, and their final position and the time after the pulse that the neutrons are detected are measured. By the principle of conservation of momentum, these pairs of coordinates may be transformed into ...
Lethargy is defined as decrease in neutron energy. (fast utilization) is the probability that a fast neutron is absorbed in fuel. is the probability that a fast neutron absorption in fuel causes fission.
The multiplication factor, k, is defined as (see nuclear chain reaction): k = number of neutrons in one generation / number of neutrons in preceding generation . If k is greater than 1, the chain reaction is supercritical, and the neutron population will grow exponentially.