Detecting fission from special nuclear material sources

Patent · Tue Jun 05 00:00:00 EDT 2012

OSTI ID:1055712

Rowland, Mark S ^[1]; Snyderman, Neal J ^[2]

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1. Alamo, CA
2. Berkeley, CA

A neutron detector system for discriminating fissile material from non-fissile material wherein a digital data acquisition unit collects data at high rate, and in real-time processes large volumes of data directly into information that a first responder can use to discriminate materials. The system comprises counting neutrons from the unknown source and detecting excess grouped neutrons to identify fission in the unknown source. The system includes a graphing component that displays the plot of the neutron distribution from the unknown source over a Poisson distribution and a plot of neutrons due to background or environmental sources. The system further includes a known neutron source placed in proximity to the unknown source to actively interrogate the unknown source in order to accentuate differences in neutron emission from the unknown source from Poisson distributions and/or environmental sources.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• Assignee: Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (Livermore, CA)
• Patent Number(s): 8,194,814
• Application Number: 11/925,682
• OSTI ID: 1055712
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY