THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH TRIGA REACTOR AS NEUTRON SOURCE FOR NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS DAILY PRODUCTS

摘要

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) can be used to determine the concentration of differentelements. In order to perform such experiment a neutron source is required for the activation process.Various neutron sources are available such as a nuclear reactor, an actinide such as californium, and DTfusion reaction. Using a gamma detector (semiconductor, scintillation, or gas ionization type)various peaks are recorded from the NAA sample. These peaks are compared with available data forvarious elements to identify the content of the examined samples. The University of Utah TRIGAreactor built in 1975 operates at 100 kW thermal power; it contains several irradiation facilities for fastand thermal neutron spectrums as used for NAA analysis. This paper will present the capabilities ofusing the University of Utah research reactor, TRIGA, in performing a number of NAA experiments;we will mainly focus at a number of various daily products to examine the chemical compositions andanalyze the environmental quality of the Salt Lake. We will thus generate a library of data indicatingthe contents of tobacco (various cigarettes brands), bullets, in addition to examining the chemicalcontent of Salt Lake water and shores.