Monte Carlo determined self-shielded groupwise cross-sections for the activation foil stack applied in the epithermal neutron spectrum adjustment

Activation foils, stacked in a package, together with a spectrum adjustment code are generally the means to characterize the neutron spectrum of a BNCT epithermal neutron beam. When using foil stacks, the phenomenon of neutron scattering is appreciably enhanced, especially in an epithermal neutron beam, as compared to a thermal neutron field. Contrary to the conventional idea of the self-shielding effect, self-shielding correction factors in most of the foils in the stack are larger than one. This paper demonstrates a way to correct the complex self-shielding effect using groupwise cross-sections modified for self-shielding, as calculated by the Monte Carlo neutron transport code, MCNP. This methodology can solve the perturbation problems caused by the foil stack applied in an epithermal neutron beam. In this study, the adjusted spectrum of the HB11 epithermal neutron beam, dedicated for BNCT research in Petten, The Netherlands, is utilized and two adjusted spectra are presented with and without the self-shielding correction. The difference between the spectra is highly significant and demonstrates that the self-shielding correction cannot be ignored.