National Technical University of Athens

The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) is the oldest and most prestigious technological educational institution of Greece, and has unceasingly contributed to the country's scientific and technical development since its foundation in 1836, as well as in the enrichment and implementation of global education and knowledge.

Relevant experience

The Nuclear Physics group of NTUA involved in the CHANDA project has experience in Charged-Particle and Gamma Ray Spectroscopy, Nuclear Reactions, Neutron Induced Reactions, Detector Physics. It collaborates with many Greek and European Nuclear Physics institutes.

Role and main tasks

• WP 1: Preparation of a feasibility study for the present needs of nuclear data, which is essential for the implementation of new initiatives, concerning advanced reactor systems and innovative materials, followed by an analytical survey of facilities and available resources for future measurements. In coordination with IAEA and OECD/NEA, efforts will be made to set the roadmap for present and future neutron data needs, and simultaneously, to advertise the nuclear data challenges and to improve the quality of data library entries. The participation aims at initializing specific efforts, in order to stimulate research for new measurement techniques that will improve the quality of experimental data, and at providing support in order to enhance the quality of experimental reporting.
• WP 2: Preparation of a thorough survey of the European facilities producing neutrons for materials applications, such as small accelerator facilities, neutron generators, intermediate scale facilities, and reactors; in order to investigate their capabilities to perform NAA, Large Sample NAA and Radiation Damage techniques (among others) with an impact to the Society, and also to investigate possibilities for promoting synergies, exchange of expertise, coordination between infrastructures, opportunities for co-financing and sharing resources among them.
• WP 7: Participation in the feasibility study of the high efficiency neutron capture detector planned to be used in the n_TOF new experimental area (EAR-2). New high performance inorganic scintillators will be tried and tested within the actual conditions of the new experimental area concerning their efficiency and performance with respect to the background, the gamma-flash etc.
• WP 8: Organization of feasibility tests for (n,xn) reaction measurements at the new experimental area (EAR-2) of the n_TOF facility at CERN. Tests and new methodologies will be tried, implementing HPGe detectors with fast preamplifiers modified to shorten the recovery time, along with 12bit digitizers, which are planned to replace the current 8 bit FADCs. The results will be compared with the ones proposed for the NFS facility.

Scientific and technical personnel involved

• Prof. R. Vlastou-Zanni: Currently focused on neutron-induced reactions within the frame of the n_TOF collaboration at CERN and at NCSR "Demokritos" in Athens. She is also participating in the Coordinated Research Project of IAEA entitled "Minor Actinide Neutron Reaction Data" (MANREAD).
• Assist. Prof. M. Kokkoris: His main research activities are Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) studies, Rutherford and Elastic Backscattering Spectroscopy, Channelling, Particle Induced Gamma-ray Emission as well as neutron induced reaction studies. He is currently a consultant of IAEA in the field of nuclear data evaluation participating in the Coordinated Research Project of IAEA on Development of a Reference Nuclear Data Base for Ion Beam Analysis. The project team will be assisted by a post-doctoral research scientist and a post-graduate student.