Spallation yield of neutrons produced in thick lead target bombarded with 250 MeV protons

The neutron yield from thick target of Pb irradiated with 250 MeV protons has been studied experimentally. The neutron production was measured with the water-bath gold method. The thermal neutron distributions in the water were determined according to the measured activities of Au foils. Corresponding results calculated with the Monte Carlo code MCNPX were compared with the experimental data. It was found out that the Au foils with cadmium cover significantly changed the spacial distribution of the thermal neutron field. The corrected neutron yield was deduced to be 2.23±0.192.23±0.19 n/proton by considering the influence of the Cd cover on the thermal neutron flux.