A mm(3) Fiber-Coupled Scintillator for In-Core Thermal Neutron Detection in CROCUS

This article presents the development, full-characterization, and in-core testing of a miniature neutron detector for the investigation of highly localized in-core neutronics effects in the zero-power reactor CROCUS, operated at the Ecole Polytechnique federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. A ZnS:(LiF)-Li-6 screen, mixing inorganic scintillator and neutron converter, with a surface of 1 mm(2) and a thickness of 0.2 mm, was coupled with a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) via a 10-m optical fiber. Analog readout electronics were adopted in this prototype version to process the SiPM output signal. A first campaign was carried out to assess the detection system capabilities in terms of neutron detection and counting in mixed neutron-gamma radiation fields. The miniature detector was thoroughly characterized with a Pu-Be source installed in the CARROUSEL facility and was subsequently tested inside a control rod guide tube of the CROCUS reactor in different reactor conditions, i.e., at shutdown, startup, and critical. The detector shows a linear response with a reactor power increase up to 6.5 W (i.e., around 108 cm(-2) . s(-1) total neutron flux) and excellent neutron counting capabilities, when compared to other localized detection systems available in CROCUS, such as the miniature fission chambers and single-crystal vapor deposited (sCVD) diamond detectors. In addition, the exposure of the miniature detector to a Co-60 source with an activity of similar to 250 GBq, combined with the computation of the gamma flux in CROCUS with the Serpent 2 Monte Carlo code, confirmed the gamma insensitivity of the system in a mixed neutron-gamma field.