Benchmark Experiments of Thermal Neutron and Capture Gamma-Ray Distributions in Concrete Using ²⁵²Cf

The distributions of thermal neutrons and capture gamma rays in ordinary concrete were investigated by using ²⁵²Cf. Two subjects are considered. One is the benchmark experiments for the thermal neutron and the capture gamma-ray distributions in ordinary concrete. The thermal neutron and the capture gamma-ray distributions were measured by using gold-foil activation detectors and thermoluminescence detectors. These were compared with the simulations by using the discrete ordinates code ANISN with two different group structure types of cross-section library of a new Japanese version, JENDL-3.3, showing reasonable agreement with both fine and rough structure groups of thermal neutron energy. The other is a comparison of the simulations with two different cross-section libraries, JENDL-3.3 and ENDF/B-VI, for the deep penetration of neutrons in the concrete, showing close agreement in 0- to 100-cm-thick concrete. However, the differences in flux grow with an increase in concrete thickness, reaching up to approximately eight times near 4-m thickness.