THERMAL NEUTRON DETECTION APPARATUS, SCINTILLATOR UNIT, AND THERMAL NEUTRON DETECTION SYSTEM

摘要

A scintillator unit of a thermal neutron detection apparatus according to the present invention is provided with: a scintillator layer that emits light in response to the incidence of γ-rays or charged particles; and a nuclear capture reaction layer arranged on the scintillator layer on the side from which the γ-rays or the charged particles are incident, and in which first cell regions and second cell regions are two-dimensionally distributed along a surface on which the γ-rays or the charged particles are incident, each first cell region including a compound containing ⁶Li as a nuclear capture reaction material that causes a nuclear capture reaction with an incoming thermal neutron to generate a charged particle, and each second cell region not including the nuclear capture reaction material. An optical sensor array unit is arranged on the scintillator layer side of the scintillator unit, and is configured to be capable of detecting the amount of luminescence of each of the first and second cell regions, and therefore, the amount of irradiation of thermal neutrons (neutron flux) can be accurately detected by calculating the difference between the amount of luminescence of each first cell region and the amount of luminescence of each second cell region.