Calculated and experimental response of calcium silicate polycrystalline to high and very-high neutron doses

Abstract

In the scope to the discovery of new detectors for high and very-high gamma and neutron radiation dose (mGy- MGy), synthetic polycrystals of CaSiO3 have been produced by the devitrification method in our laboratory. CaSiO3 polycrystals were irradiated with thermal, epithermal and a small fraction of fast neutrons. In the position of irradiation, the thermal neutron flux is about 83% of the total neutron flux and the thermal neutron fluences range from 5.82 × 1013 to 2.97 × 1016 n/cm2. This thermal neutron reacts with Ca, Si and O through (n,γ) process, all or part of the gamma emitted in this reaction is absorbed by the sample and is responsible for the induction of thermoluminescence (TL). The total energy emitted by the (n,γ) reaction was calculated analytically. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulations using MCNP5 radiation transport code was carried out to calculate the deposited dose on CaSiO3 by the neutron interaction finding doses ranging from 42 Gy to 21 kGy. CaSiO3 TL glow curves, after radiation exposure from the reactor, display the main prominent TL peak around 234–259 °C and when exposed to gamma radiation (Co-60) it shows the main TL peak around same 234–272 °C.