The Measurement of Neutron Cross Sections for Contrast-Enhancing Penetrant Fluids

Abstract The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate penetrant fluids of high neutron cross section. These fluids are useful in neutron radiographic investigations for contrast enhancement. Saturated solutions of the gadolinium salts and one chelate were formed by using one of several solvents, and the resulting fluid's macroscopic neutron cross sections were measured experimentally. The results of this experiment provided a quantitative measure of the mean and standard deviation of the macroscopic neutron cross section for the penetrant fluids. In addition, a confidence interval was generated for each fluid. The measured neutron cross section for a control fluid was in close agreement with published values.