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H2 Production in the 10B(n,?)7Li Reaction in Water

Published

Author(s)

Alan K. Thompson, Travis C. Dietz, Mohamad Al-Sheikhly, Marcin Sterniczuk, David M. Bartels

Abstract

We demonstrate a method for measuring the H2 produced in water from the 10B(n,α)7Li fission reaction. Low energy neutrons from the NIST Center for Neutron Research interact with borate- containing water in a temperature-controlled high pressure cell made from titanium. After exposure for one to several hours, the water is extracted and sparged with argon. H2 entrained in the sparging gas is sampled with a small mass spectrometer. To determine the neutron exposure, a small amount of sodium is included in the borate solution. The water is collected and 24Na activation is measured in a counting apparatus on the following day. The G value for H2 at room temperature is found to be (1.18 ± 0.10) molecules H2/100eV, in good agreement with previous estimates and recent modeling calculations.
Citation
Radiation Physics and Chemistry

Keywords

nuclear reactor, nuclear power, radiation chemistry, neutron absorption, hydrogen, boron-10

Citation

Thompson, A. , Dietz, T. , Al-Sheikhly, M. , Sterniczuk, M. and Bartels, D. (2020), H2 Production in the 10B(n,?)7Li Reaction in Water, Radiation Physics and Chemistry, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=930894 (Accessed October 9, 2024)

Issues

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Created December 3, 2020, Updated December 7, 2020