A Proposed Technique for Producing High-Purity Monoenergetic Neutron Beams Between 100 eV and 2.5 keV for Nuclear Research

Several filtered-beam facilities exist that provide monoenergetic neutrons at 186 eV; 2, 25, 55, and 144 keV; and at 2.2 MeV. This range of energies can be extended by using natural uranium as a filter in conjunction with suitable secondary filters and scattering foils. The range of energies obtainable with uranium lies between 100 eV and 2.5 keV. Neutron fluence rate and beam purity estimates are provided at the most useful energies obtainable with uranium. Dose equivalent rates and kerma rates are also evaluated, and it is concluded that such a range of filtered beams would have many useful applications in radiation protection.