Reviving and Extending the Neutron Imaging Capabilities at the Penn State Breazeale Reactor

Reviving and Extending the Neutron Imaging Capabilities at the Penn State Breazeale Reactor

Robert Zboray

download PDF

Abstract. The Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR), a 1 MW TRIGA type reactor has been utilized successfully for neutron imaging in the past. Presently a single beam line with a thermal spectrum is utilized for imaging, however the reactor is just undergoing a major refurbishment involving the installation of a new core moderator assembly. This enables the establishment of several new neutron beam lines around the reactor including three with a cold spectrum. We report here on the ongoing developments and future plans to revive and extend neutron imaging capabilities at PSBR.

Keywords
Neutron Imaging, TRIGA, Core Moderator, Bright Flash Imaging, Multi-Spectral Imaging, Fast Neutron Imaging

Published online 1/5/2020, 6 pages
Copyright © 2020 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Robert Zboray, Reviving and Extending the Neutron Imaging Capabilities at the Penn State Breazeale Reactor, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 15, pp 17-22, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900574-3

The article was published as article 3 of the book Neutron Radiography

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

References
[1] J. Brenizer, M.M. Mench, K. Ünlü, K. Heller, A. Turhan, L. Shi, J.J. Kowal, available at http://www.rsec.psu.edu (accessed July 10th, 2018)
[2] J.M. Cimbala, J.S. Brenizer, A. Po-Ya Chuang, S. Hanna, C. Thomas Conroy, A. El-Ganayni, et al. “Study of a loop heat pipe using neutron radiography” Appl Rad. Iso., 61 (2004), pp. 701-705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2004.03.104
[3] D. Ucar, “Modeling and Design of a new core-moderator assembly and neutron beam ports for the Penn State Breazeale nuclear reactor” Ph.D. Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University, 2013.
[4] http://www.neutronoptics.com/cameras.html
[5] Scintacor, Neutron Screens, available at https://scintacor.com/wp- content/uploads/2015/09/Datasheet-Neutron-Screens-High-Res.pdf, (accessed on July 20th, 2018)
[6] D. L. Hetrick, Dynamics of Nuclear Reactors, University of Chicago Press, 1971
[7] RC Tritec AG, T., 2017. Scintillators. http://www.rctritec.com/en/scintillators.html.
[8] MirroBor, 2012. Radiation shielding. http://www.mirrotron.kfkipark.hu/shield.html.
[9] D. L. Hetrick, Dynamics of Nuclear Reactors, University of Chicago Press, 1971