The influence of boron micro-inhomogeneities on neutron transmission

Boron alloyed steels and boron-polyethylene have been investigated by applying neutron transmission analysis. A high degree of boron homogeneity has been confirmed in these materials. However, the neutron transmission through thick and strong absorbing steel sheets is slightly enhanced due to boron micro-inhomogeneities. Although such micro-structure remains invisible in neutron images they reveal themselves by the enhanced neutron transmission, especially in the low transmission probability rates of 10−2 and below. The transmission data have been analyzed by applying different models of micro-inhomogeneities in MCNPX, (in the range of 20 μm) all of them yielding an elevated transmission compared to the homogeneous case. It will be shown that, including the micro-structure in the analysis, provides a more suitable modeling of neutron transmission through strong absorbing materials.