Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova Cesta 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Jadranska Cesta 19, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 19;14(1):28604. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-78034-w.
Neutron activation dosimetry is the primary method for the determination of the neutron flux or fluence, and in general, it is sensitive to the thermal and resonance energy ranges (radiative capture reactions- reactions) and the fast energy range (threshold reactions). However, there are very few nuclear reactions which are sensitive specifically to neutrons in the intermediate-epithermal-energy region. This energy region, along with the fast energy range, will become particularly important in the development and deployment of new reactor technologies (Generation IV reactors and Small Modular Reactors-SMRs), which are currently being championed as technologies enabling a meaningful contribution to decarbonization and the fight against climate change, as well as nuclear fusion. The epithermal neutron energy range is also of particular importance for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), a neutron-based cancer therapy, particularly effective for the treatment of head and neck cancer, malignant meningioma, melanoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. This work investigates and demonstrates the applicability of a particular set of reactions in conjunction with boron-based neutron filters to achieve sensitivity in the epithermal energy region, and discusses avenues for future research in this context.
中子活化剂量测定是确定中子通量或注量的主要方法，通常对热和共振能区（辐射俘获反应——反应）以及快能区（阈反应）敏感。然而，在中能区至超能区，仅有极少数核反应对中子具有特异性。随着新一代反应堆技术（四代反应堆和小型模块化反应堆）的发展和部署，该能区以及快能区将变得尤为重要，这些技术被认为是对脱碳和应对气候变化以及核聚变做出有意义贡献的技术。超热中子能量范围对于硼中子俘获治疗（BNCT）也非常重要，这是一种基于中子的癌症治疗方法，对头颈癌、恶性脑膜瘤、黑色素瘤和肝细胞癌的治疗特别有效。本工作研究并证明了一组特定的反应与基于硼的中子滤波器结合使用在超热区实现灵敏度的适用性，并讨论了这方面未来研究的途径。
