LONG, HIGH SENSITIVITY FISSION COUNTER

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS THE DESIGN OF A HIGH-SENSITIVITY NEUTRON DETECTOR WITH A SENSITIVE LENGTH OF FIVE TO EIGHT FEET. THE DETECTOR IS A FISSION COUNTER DESIGNED FOR RELIABLE, LONG-TERM OPERATION AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURE AND IN HIGH GAMMA RADIATION FIELDS. THE RESEARCH EFFORT WILL INVESTIGATE THE UTILIZATION OF RECENT ADVANCES IN DETECTOR TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE NEUTRON SENSITIVITY AND PROVIDE THE CAPABILITY OF POSITION SENSING. IT IS PROPOSED TO DESIGN A DETECTOR EMPLOYING A LUMPED ELEMENT TRANSMISSION LINE CONFIGURATION, FILLING GAS WITH HIGH ELECTRON MOBILITY, AND LARGE AREA ELECTRODES. SOLUTIONS WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR SEVERAL MECHANICAL DESIGN PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FABRICATION AND TEMPERATURE CYCLING OF VERY LONG DETECTORS.