A rigorous treatment of self-shielding and covers in neutron spectra determinations

Most neutron spectrum determination methodologies ignore self-shielding effects in dosimetry foils and treat covers with an exponential attenuation model. This work provides a quantitative analysis of the approximations in this approach. It also provides a methodology for improving the fidelity of the treatment of the dosimetry sensor response to a level consistent with the user's spectrum characterization approach. A library of correction functions for the energy-dependent sensor response has been compiled that addresses dosimetry foils/configurations in use at the Sandia National Laboratories Radiation Metrology Laboratory.