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Casting a wider net
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
Recently, a colleague related to me a conversation overheard at an industry forum in which ANS was referred to as a group of “academics” who were of limited use in expanding the workforce needed to deliver a nuclear resurgence.
While not new, this criticism still gets me hypertensive when I hear it. Many still see ANS as a bunch of academics and “labbies” disconnected from the day-to-day commercial nuclear race.
Yet, I also understand the charge is not entirely without foundation. Pop your head into a technical session at an ANS national conference, and you’re bound to hear academics presenting research that, to nontechnical ears, sounds esoteric.
Imane Ahnouz, Hanan Arahmane, Rajaa Sebihi
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 12 | December 2024 | Pages 2241-2273
Review Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2024.2316946
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron detection is increasingly vital in various fields such as homeland security, medical sciences, and high-energy physics. However, interference from accompanying gamma rays poses a critical challenge in discrimination. Neutron-gamma discrimination in a mixed radiation field is the major challenge with neutron detectors, especially with organic scintillators. In this context, various approaches, both classical and advanced, have been suggested to address this challenge. The purpose of this paper is to provide readers from various backgrounds with a structured view of these approaches for neutron-gamma discrimination, using different types of organic scintillators. Selected reference works are reviewed in this prospect. Then, a comparison study of these methods according to accuracy and type of detector is conducted. Finally, an analysis of the latest advanced methods is provided. Potential recommendations to the research community are outlined.