The University of Massachusetts’s Fast Neutron Irradiation (FNI) facility is an experimental facility replaces three beam ports that originally existed on the left side of the research reactor. It is designed to give a fast flux level ≥ 1011 n/cm2–s, with relatively low thermal fluence and gamma dose rates. Samples with a cross-sectional area as large as 30 cm (12 in) × 30 cm (12 in) and up to 15 cm (6 in) thick can be irradiated. The fast neutron flux is designed to be nearly uniform over the 30 cm (12 in) × 30 cm (12 in) area facing the core, and the fast fluence variation through the sample thickness is minimized via a single 180° rotation of the sample canister at the midpoint of the irradiation period. The FNI facility offers a significantly larger sample volume than previously available within the University of Massachusetts Lowell Research Reactor (UMLRR). The fluences are calculated based on 1-MeV equivalences.
Detailed information of the radiation facility is available at the following link: http://www.uml.edu/docs/FNI%20Brochure_tcm18-90375.pdf