A 13C(α,n)(α,n)16O calibration source for KamLAND

We report on the construction and performance of a calibration source for KamLAND using the reaction C13(α,n)O16 with 210Po as the alpha progenitor. The source provides a direct measurement of this background reaction in our detector, high energy calibration points for the detector energy scale, and data on quenching of the neutron visible energy in KamLAND scintillator. We also discuss the possibility of using the C13(α,n)O16 reaction as a source of tagged slow neutrons.