A Novel Neutron Flux Monitor Based On Diamond Detectors at the Vienna TRIGA Mark II Reactor
A novel neutron flux monitor for nuclear applications was tested at the TRIGA Mark II research reactor at the Atominstitut of the Vienna University of Technology, Austria. This neutron flux monitor is based on a novel diamond detector technology, which allows measurements under high-irradiation conditions, exploiting the excellent radiation resistance of diamond. Measurements were performed at the core of the reactor where the reactor power was varied from 10 W to 250 kW. The response of the diamond detector shows an excellent linearity over the full range of reactor power. The results prove that diamond detector technology can be effectively used for neutron diagnostics in high irradiation environment.
TRIGA reactor pool
The response function proves that the CIVIDEC B1-HV sCVD Diamond Detector is an effective instrumentation in neutron diagnostics. The detector response is linear up to the maximum power delivered by the TRIGA reactor. This result shows that diamond detectors can be effectively used in high irradiation environments, e.g. as a neutron diagnostics tool for nuclear reactors or a beam loss monitor for particle accelerators.
This work was presented at the International Conference of Accelerator Optimization (Seville, 7 – 9 October 2015) and at the International Conference on Research Reactors (Vienna, 16 – 20 November 2015).