A plastic scintillator-based 2D thermal neutron mapping system for use in BNCT studies

•A plastic scintillator-based instrument is proposed for thermal neutron mapping in water phantom.•A two-dimensional map of thermal neutrons is presented based on 2.22 MeV gamma-ray detection.•The whole system has been simulated using Monte Carlo code MCNPX 2.6.•The results confirm that the thermal flux peaks between 2 cm and 4 cm distance from the system entrance.

In this study, a scintillator-based measurement instrument is proposed which is capable of measuring a two-dimensional map of thermal neutrons within a phantom based on the detection of 2.22 MeV gamma rays generated via nth+H→D+γ reaction. The proposed instrument locates around a small rectangular water phantom (14 cm×15 cm×20 cm) used in Birmingham BNCT facility. The whole system has been simulated using MCNPX 2.6. The results confirm that the thermal flux peaks somewhere between 2 cm and 4 cm distance from the system entrance which is in agreement with previous studies.