A Kerma from neutron irradiation

[Ozymandiac]

TL;DR

Does the kinetic energy of an atom with net zero charge count towards kerma?

Hi all,

I have a question regarding kerma from a neutron source. I will be giving a lecture about this topic (and others), and was creating a figure to explain which interacties / energies contribute to kerma and which do not.

The definition of Kerma I use is taken from ICRU report 57:

In the figure (see below), a reference volume with mass dm is irradiated by neutrons. From top to bottom, there are four interactions of neutrons with nuclei. Kinetic energies are denoted with T. Secondary ionisation is shows as small black dots. The aim of the figure is to determine which energies are counted towards the calculation of kerma (and which aren't). My initial thought was that kerma would be: K = (T1+T2+T4+T6) / dm.

My questions are all very similar, because I am unsure how I have to interpret the word "charged" from the kerma definition.

• In the first interaction (counted from the top) I show an (n,p) reaction. Does the kinetic energy from the nucleus (T2) count towards kerma? Does the moving atom even ionize surrounding atoms? I suppose the atom has charge -1 for a split second (since a proton was scattered away), but that extra electron will be quickly dumped, right? After which the atom has 0 charge.
• In the second interaction I show neutron capture (n,gamma). The atom recoils with kinetic energy T4. Is T4 counted towards kerma? My initial response was yes, but since the atom is neutral it does not satisfy the above definition of kerma.
• In the third interaction I show elastic scattering (n, n'). As before: does T6 count towards kerma, since the atom has neutral charge?

I would be grateful for any help and discussion.