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Title: Uncovering Special Nuclear Materials by Low-energy Nuclear Reaction Imaging

Abstract

Weapons-grade uranium and plutonium could be used as nuclear explosives with extreme destructive potential. The problem of their detection, especially in standard cargo containers during transit, has been described as “searching for a needle in a haystack” because of the inherently low rate of spontaneous emission of characteristic penetrating radiation and the ease of its shielding. Currently, the only practical approach for uncovering well-shielded special nuclear materials is by use of active interrogation using an external radiation source. However, the similarity of these materials to shielding and the required radiation doses that may exceed regulatory limits prevent this method from being widely used in practice. We introduce a low-dose active detection technique, referred to as low-energy nuclear reaction imaging, which exploits the physics of interactions of multi-MeV monoenergetic photons and neutrons to simultaneously measure the material’s areal density and effective atomic number, while confirming the presence of fissionable materials by observing the beta-delayed neutron emission. For the first time, we demonstrate identification and imaging of uranium with this novel technique using a simple yet robust source, setting the stage for its wide adoption in security applications.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States). G.W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear and Radiological Engineering Program
  2. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Washington, DC (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI Identifier:
1258575
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats

Rose, P. B., Erickson, A. S., Mayer, M., Nattress, J., and Jovanovic, I. Uncovering Special Nuclear Materials by Low-energy Nuclear Reaction Imaging. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1038/srep24388.
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Rose, P. B., Erickson, A. S., Mayer, M., Nattress, J., & Jovanovic, I. Uncovering Special Nuclear Materials by Low-energy Nuclear Reaction Imaging. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24388
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Rose, P. B., Erickson, A. S., Mayer, M., Nattress, J., and Jovanovic, I. Mon . "Uncovering Special Nuclear Materials by Low-energy Nuclear Reaction Imaging". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24388. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1258575.
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@article{osti_1258575,
title = {Uncovering Special Nuclear Materials by Low-energy Nuclear Reaction Imaging},
author = {Rose, P. B. and Erickson, A. S. and Mayer, M. and Nattress, J. and Jovanovic, I.},
abstractNote = {Weapons-grade uranium and plutonium could be used as nuclear explosives with extreme destructive potential. The problem of their detection, especially in standard cargo containers during transit, has been described as “searching for a needle in a haystack” because of the inherently low rate of spontaneous emission of characteristic penetrating radiation and the ease of its shielding. Currently, the only practical approach for uncovering well-shielded special nuclear materials is by use of active interrogation using an external radiation source. However, the similarity of these materials to shielding and the required radiation doses that may exceed regulatory limits prevent this method from being widely used in practice. We introduce a low-dose active detection technique, referred to as low-energy nuclear reaction imaging, which exploits the physics of interactions of multi-MeV monoenergetic photons and neutrons to simultaneously measure the material’s areal density and effective atomic number, while confirming the presence of fissionable materials by observing the beta-delayed neutron emission. For the first time, we demonstrate identification and imaging of uranium with this novel technique using a simple yet robust source, setting the stage for its wide adoption in security applications.},
doi = {10.1038/srep24388},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
number = ,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Apr 18 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Apr 18 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24388
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Cited by: 28 works
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Low-dose material-specific radiography using monoenergetic photons
    journal, September 2019

    Experimental demonstration of multiple monoenergetic gamma radiography for effective atomic number identification in cargo inspection
    journal, April 2018

    • Henderson, Brian S.; Lee, Hin Y.; MacDonald, Thomas D.
    • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 16
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5025805

    Low-dose material-specific radiography using monoenergetic photons
    journal, September 2019

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