Moderation of Neutrons

The neutrons at birth in fission are very fast with an average kinetic energy of about 2 MeV. Assume that
every fission gives one neutron to continue the chain, the excess if any being lost somehow. Let σ denote
probability of a neutron reaction with one nuclide, with a suffix indicating the reaction, and the
superscript indicating the nuclide. Let us analyze σfU-235/σcU-238 curve vs. energy given in the figure
on next slide. For the fissions to be more than captures, N(U-235) σf(U-235)/N(U-238)σc(U-238) must
well exceed unity. N represents the isotopic concentration.

In the case of natural uranium N(U-235)/N(U-238) is about 0.7/99.3 (~0.00705) and so

σf(U-235)/σc(U-238) must be more than 142. This condition is satisfied only in the
‘slow region’ leading to the concept of slow or thermal reactors.

In the ‘fast region’, say at 100 keV, σfU-235/σcU-238 is seen to be about 10, and so N(U-235)/N(U-238)
must well exceed 0.1 (i.e. 10%). It must be borne in mind that enrichment is an expensive proposition,
and also would lead to faster depletion of the natural fissile viz. U-235. Slowing down or thermalisation
of neutrons permits a workable reactor with natural uranium fuel. Thermal neutrons are those that have
been slowed down enough to be in thermal equilibrium with the surrounding (E = 0.025 eV)
`Figure 1
As the neutrons are fast at birth, in order to have thermal reactors, the neutrons have
to be slowed down, ie. moderated. This is achieved by introducing moderators in the
reactor. Moderators are generally light elements, like hydrogen, carbon
(graphite), etc., that degrade the neutron energy effectively in elastic scattering
collisions, mentioned earlier. As the neutron availability for chain reaction is
crucial, the moderator must be chosen such that its absorption cross-section is low,
but scattering cross-section is high.
It is not possible to have a fast reactor working with natural uranium fuel. The
fission to capture ratio shown in the figure 1 looks high enough, at very high
energies, to suggest that a fast reactor is feasible with natural uranium. This view
may be supported by the fact that the ratio is slightly higher in the MeV range,
because of U-238 fissions.
However, it must be noted that most of the fission neutrons have energies just above
1 MeV where the fission to capture ratio is seen to be inadequate. It must also be
noted that scattering reactions, especially the inelastic scattering, dominate over
fissions in this region, causing the high energy neutrons to degrade to energies
down below 1 MeV. For a commercial fast reactor, most of the neutrons would
be populated around 100 keV.
The curve in the figure shows that a chain reaction and hence a reactor with
neutrons in the fast region is not feasible, because the fissions in such a system
would be far less than captures. However a working fast reactor is feasible with
sufficient enrichment in the fissile content.
 Neutron Cross-sections of U-235 and U-238 at high energies
Figure above gives cross-sections (probabilities) for different reactions in uranium at high
energies. It shows how scattering reactions dominate in the MeV range.
• For heavy nuclides, the energy loss in an elastic collision is much smaller than in an inelastic
collision . As said earlier, elastic collision results in kinetic energy sharing. A neutron, in an elastic
collision with a heavy nucleus, rebounds almost with its initial energy giving very little energy to the
nucleus. But, in an inelastic collision a substantial part of neutron energy is used in leaving the
nucleus in an excited state. It must be recalled that the inelastic scattering itself is possible only
beyond the relevant threshold energy.

• Neutron Slowing Down: As a neutron produced in fission has an average energy of 2 MeV, it has to
be slowed down to thermal (0.025 eV) energies to take advantage of high fission cross-sections in the
fissile (U-235) nucleus. Study of slowing down properties help selection of proper material
(moderator) for the purpose. The following are obtained from the kinematics of elastic scattering
collision:
• If E1 is the initial neutron energy (before collision), and E2, its energy after collision, the maximum
value of E 2 = E1 (glancing collision) and the minimum value of E2 = αE1 (head-on collision), where
α = [(A-1)/(A+1)] 2. This gives the maximum energy loss in a collision at E1 is (1-α)E1. The average
loss is given by (1-α)E1/2.
• The average cosine of the scattering angle, <cosψ> = 2/3A, where A is nuclear
mass in terms of neutron mass. For high A, <cosψ> approaches zero, indicating a
tendency to isotropy (i.e. all angles are equally probable).
• The logarithmic energy decrement is given by log(E1 / E2).
• The average value of this quantity, per collision is given by ξ = 2/(A+2/3), which is
independent of initial neutron energy. This indicates that, in every elastic collision, on
an average, the neutron energy decrement is by a constant ratio, irrespective of its
initial energy. From this, the number of collisions needed to bring a neutron from
an initial energy E0 to a given energy E, is given by (1/ξ)ln(E0 / E). Thus the
number of collisions required to slow down a 2 MeV neutron to 0.025 eV is given by
ln(2×106/0.025) / ξ.
• For a good moderator high ξ, high scattering cross-section and low absorption cross-
section are preferred, for obvious reasons. ξΣs is known as Slowing-down Power;
and ξΣ s /Σa is called the Moderating Ratio (MR). A material with high MR is
preferable. The slowing down parameters of various nuclei are given below:
Material α ξ Collisions to thermalise MR
H 0.0 1.0 18 H2O = 72

D 0.11 0.72 25 D2O = 12000

Be 0.64 0.21 85 159

C 0.72 0.16 115 170
O 0.78 0.12 150
U-238 0.98 0.008 2172