MARS14 deep-penetration calculation for the ISIS target station shielding

The calculation of neutron penetration through a thick shield was performed with a three-dimensional multi-layer technique using the MARS14(02) Monte Carlo code to compare with the experimental shielding data in 1998 at the ISIS spallation neutron source facility of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. In this calculation, secondary particles from a tantalum target bombarded by 800-MeV protons were transmitted through a bulk shield of approximately 3-m-thick iron and 1-m-thick concrete. To accomplish this deep-penetration calculation, a three-dimensional multi-layer technique and energy cut-off method were used considering a spatial statistical balance. Finally, the energy spectra of neutrons behind the very thick shield could be calculated down to the thermal energy with good statistics, and the calculated results typically agree well within a factor of two with the experimental data over a broad energy range. The 12C(n,2n)11C reaction rates behind the bulk shield were also calculated, which agree with the experimental data typically within 60%. These results are quite impressive in calculation accuracy for deep-penetration problem.