R.E. Faw, S.L. Shue, and J.K. Shultis " Thermal Neutron Intensities in soils Irradiated by Fast Neutrons from Point Sources," J. Chemical Geology, 144, 47-61 (1998).

Thermal neutron fluences in soil are reported for selected fast-neutron sources, selected soil types, and selected irradiation geometries. Sources include 14-MeV neutrons from accelerators, neutrons from spontaneously fissioning Cf-255, and neutrons produced from alpha-particle interactions in the AM-241/Be source. Soils are of five types, ranging from a dry porous soil to a wet dense soil. Neutron fluences are reported for sources above the soil surface and positioned at selected soil depths below the soil surface. Methods are demonstrated for incorporating thermal neutron fluence data into the deconvolution of capture gamma-ray spectral data in the method of assessing soil contamination using prompt gamma-ray neutron activation analysis.

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