Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Thermal neutrons
Date: Mar 24, 5:04 pm
Poster: Scott Little

On Mar 24, 5:04 pm, Scott Little wrote:

I ran my fusor with a 3He counter next to it...at about the same distance as the Bicron fast neutron scintillator. In 10 minutes, the 3He counter registered 8 counts. During the same period, the Bicron registered 5320. I then repeated the 10 minute counts with the fusor turned off. The 3He counter registered 0 counts while the Bicron showed 136.

I'm still searching for definitive info on the expected efficiency of the 3He counter for thermal neutrons but, from the 3He(n,p) cross-section alone, it looks like it should be nearly 100%.

Thus it does not look like my fusor is making any thermal neutrons. Either that or my 3He counter is bad (it is brand new).