Assessment of 14 MeV DT neutron generator emission with activation and particle track methods

The paper reports on measurements of neutron flux emitted from a 14 MeV DT neutron generator of NSD-35 type, which provides a controllable emission of a stabilized neutron flux, about 2.5 x 10(8) neutrons per second in 4p angle. The detection techniques that we used included the activation method and PADC track detector. During the experiment the detectors were placed in azimuthal plane, at various positions around the generator, and were irradiated for a chosen time interval. In order to record neutrons using the track detector, we used special converters that transformed the neutrons into charged particles which, in turn generated nuclear tracks in the detector material. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations allowed us to compute the number of charged particles emitted from the converter, which then could be registered by the used track detector. The MC calculations were also used for analysis and interpretation of the measurement results.