Non-invasive material discrimination using spectral x-ray radiography

Journal Article · Mon Apr 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4870043· OSTI ID:22273586

Gilbert, Andrew J. ^[1]; McDonald, Benjamin S.; Robinson, Sean M.; Jarman, Ken D.; White, Tim A. ^[2]

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1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78715-0162 (United States)
2. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354-1793 (United States)

Current radiographic methods are limited in their ability to determine the presence of nuclear materials in containers or composite objects. A central problem is the inability to distinguish the attenuation pattern of high-density metals from those with a greater thickness of a less dense material. Here, we show that spectrally sensitive detectors can be used to discriminate plutonium from multiple layers of other materials using a single-view radiograph. An inverse algorithm with adaptive regularization is used. The algorithm can determine the presence of plutonium in simulated radiographs with a mass resolution per unit area of at least 0.07 g cm{sup −2}.

• OSTI ID: 22273586
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 15; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
SAFEGUARDS AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ALGORITHMS
ATTENUATION
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONTAINERS
DENSITY
IMAGES
MASS RESOLUTION
PLUTONIUM
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
THICKNESS
X-RAY RADIOGRAPHY