Micro-Pocket and Micro-Capillary Gas-Filled Neutron Detectors
Reference Number: 04-07
Inventors: Douglas McGregor, Martin Ohmes, and John Shultis
Description:
Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (MPFD) have been designed to take advantage of the radiation hardness of gas-filled fission chambers while being compact like semiconductor detectors. Specific design:
- Basic parallel plate fission chamber design using neutron reactive coated anode and/or cathode conductive plate separated by a gas volume
- Capable of pulse mode and current mode operation
- Chamber size as small as 500 microns in width
- Small enough to be inserted directly into a nuclear reactor without significantly perturbing the neutron flux
- Argon or P-10 gas used as the charge-detecting medium
Applications
The technology’s application is neutron detection. Potential market applications include:
- In-core and near-core neutron flux monitoring for nuclear reactors in power plants, naval reactors, space reactors, and research reactors
- Generation IV reactor tests and evaluation
- Spent fuel monitoring
- Low dose fuel burn up record
- Monitoring for fast, thermal, and epithermal neutron experiments
Advantages
- Small enough to be modeled and used as a point detector
- Very low gamma ray background interactions in high flux fields
- Radiation hard
- Real time response, faster than typical gas-filled detectors
- Low voltage requirement (less than 200 volts)
- Thermal resistance up to 1000 C
- Simple, low cost construction form inexpensive ceramics and epoxies
- Ability to be mass-produced
- Easily customized
Patent Status
- U.S. Application #11/191,345 filed on July 28, 2005
- International Protection (#2,574,835) filed in Canada on January 22, 2007
Interested parties should contact:
National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and
Commercialization (NISTAC)
2005 Research Park Circle Manhattan, KS 66502
Tel: 785-532-3900 Fax: 785-532-3909
E-Mail: nistac@ksu.edu