A stochastic transport theory of neutron and photon coupled fields: neutron and photon counting statistics in nuclear assemblies

The behavior of neutrons and gamma rays in a nuclear reactor or configurati on of fissile material can be represented as a stochastic process. The obse rvation of this stochastic process is usuary achieved by measuring the fluc tuations of the neutron and gamma ray population on the system. The general theory of the stochastic neutron field has been developed to a high degree . However, the theory of the stochastic nature of the gamma rays and neutro ns couples the two processes. The generalized probability balances are deve loped from which the first and higher moments of the neutron and gamma rays fields are obtained. The paper also provides a description of the probabil ity generating functions for both photon and neutron detectors that are the foundations for measurements of the fluctuations. The formalism developed in this paper for the representation of the statistical descriptors of the neutron-photon coupled field is applicable for many neutron noise analysis measurements. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.