Users Group of Neutron Standards Laboratories (CEIDEN-GUN)

Introduction

In the CEIDEN General Assembly, which was celebrated in 2011, it was agreed the creation of a group of potential users of the neutron standard laboratories in our country in order to get to know their capabilities, propose possible additional applications to those planned and promote the use thereof.

In March 2012 the Neutron Standards Laboratories Users Group (CEIDEN-GUN) was created, consisting of the CIEMAT Neutron Pattern Laboratory (LPN) and the ETSIIM-UPM Neutron Measurement Laboratory (LMN), as leaders of neutron pattern laboratories in Spain and coordinators of the Group.

Over the years, the group’s coordination tasks have alternated between the UPM LMN and the CIEMAT LPN. New members interested in advances in neutron metrology and dosimetry, in the development and marketing of neutron detectors, and in neutron simulation and measurement in general have been joining the Group, reaching about 20 entities of all kinds.

Description

The initial objective of CEIDEN-GUN was the dissemination and promotion of neutron pattern laboratories, collaborating with potential users in the development of other applications beyond the original ones for calibration of neutron measurement equipment.

Throughout these 10 years, some areas of interest have been defined based on the needs raised by users:

In the medical field, the development of measurement techniques and equipment suitable for use in the environment of medical accelerators (linacs, cyclotrons and more recently proton therapy accelerators), their characterization and calibration in appropriate fields.
In the industrial field, the development and characterization of materials with certain behaviors against neutrons (mainly as shields and neutron absorbers) and the characterization of the neutron fields produced in the nuclear industry.
In the environmental field with the development of equipment and measurement systems to measure the neutron cosmic background.
The development of new facilities and calibration fields, such as thermal fields or others based on reactions with accelerators (eg HISPANOS at the CNA in Seville) or from lasers (CLPU in Salamanca).
Neutron personal dosimetry is also being implemented in our country through the DOPEN project (CSN – CIEMAT).