Special absorber neutron detector moderator assembly: A new detector system for flux measurements of collimated 2.5 MeV neutrons

A new detector system has been developed for time resolved flux measurements of collimated D-D neutrons in large magnetic confinement fusion experiments. The novel detection concept, called the special absorber neutron detector moderator assembly, is to place a scatterer behind a collimator and to detect the scattered neutrons in a small Bonner sphere. The system has been optimized by means of the Monte Carlo neutron photon transport code (MCNP) simulations and is capable to be extended for a neutron profile camera. First tests and calibration measurements of a system using a 3 in. Bonner sphere have been carried out in the 2.5 MeV neutron field at the accelerator facility of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig. The numerical and experimental results are presented. The measurements differ from the calculated values by a factor of about 1.09. It is questionable if these discrepancies can be explained by differences in the shielding, moderator and detector characteristics employed in t...