Experimental characterization of the accuracy of multidetector boron meter for operational safety of reactors

Abstract

The accuracy of a boron meter, which is used to measure the concentration of boric acid, is 1 of the factors affecting operational safety in nuclear reactors. The concept of using a multisensitivity detector to improve the accuracy of the boron meter is proposed, and the accuracy improvement is confirmed by Monte Carlo N-Particle simulation. A Monte Carlo simulation using a multidetector showed a 30 times lower accuracy error (similar to 2ppm) than a single-detector boron meter system (similar to 100ppm). In this study, a new concept of boron meter with improved accuracy is experimentally verified. Experimental verification confirmed that the accuracy was 50% higher than that of the single detector system. To improve the accuracy of the system, the detection efficiency of BF3 detector was measured in boron concentration, source strength, and neutron irradiation time.