Cosmic Ray Inspection and Passive Tomography for SNM Detection

Journal Article · Wed Dec 02 00:00:00 EST 2009 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3275662· OSTI ID:21371340

Armitage, John; Oakham, Gerald ^[1]; Bryman, Douglas ^[2]; Cousins, Thomas; Noeel, Scott ^[3]; Gallant, Grant ^[4]; Jason, Andrew ^[5]; Jonkmans, Guy ^[6]; Stocki, Trevor J ^[7]; Waller, David ^[8]

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1. Department of Physics, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6 (Canada)
2. Advanced Applied Physics Solutions, 4004 Westbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2A3 (Canada)
3. International Safety Research, 38 Colonnade Rd. N. Ottawa, ON, K2E 7J6 (Canada)
4. Canadian Border Services Agency, Laboratory and Scientific Services Directorate, 79 Bentley Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K2E 6T7 (Canada)
5. Los Alamos National Laboratories, MS H817, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA 87544 (United States)
6. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River Laboratories, Chalk River, ON, K0J 1J0 (Canada)
7. Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 775 BrookfieldRd, A.L. 6302D1, Ottawa, ON, K1A 1C1 (Canada)
8. Defence Research and Development Canada-Ottawa, 3701 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0Z4 (Canada)

The Cosmic Ray Inspection and Passive Tomography (CRIPT) project has recently started investigating the detection of illicit Special Nuclear Material in cargo using cosmic ray muon tomography and complementary neutron detectors. We are currently performing simulation studies to help with the design of small scale prototypes. Based on the prototype tests and refined simulations, we will determine whether the muon tracking system for the full scale prototype will be based on drift chambers or extruded scintillator trackers. An analysis of the operations of the Port of Montreal has determined how long muon scan times should take if all or a subset of the cargo is to be screened. As long as the throughput of the muon system(s) is equal to the rate at which containers are unloaded from ships, the impact on port operations would not be great if a muon scanning stage were required for all cargo. We also show preliminary simulation results indicating that excellent separation between Al, Fe and Pb is possible under ideal conditions. The discrimination power is reduced but still significant when realistic momentum resolution measurements are considered.

• OSTI ID: 21371340
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1194, Issue 1; Conference: International conference on applications of nuclear techniques, Crete (Greece), 14-20 Jun 2009; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3275662; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ALUMINIUM
CARGO
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONTAINERS
COSMIC MUONS
DESIGN
DRIFT CHAMBERS
IRON
LEAD
MONTE CARLO METHOD
MUON REACTIONS
MUON-NUCLEON INTERACTIONS
NEUTRON DETECTORS
NUCLEAR FUELS
RADIATION DETECTION
RESOLUTION
SOLID SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
TOMOGRAPHY
CALCULATION METHODS
CHARGED-PARTICLE REACTIONS
COSMIC RADIATION
DETECTION
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FERMIONS
FUELS
INTERACTIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LEPTON REACTIONS
LEPTON-BARYON INTERACTIONS
LEPTON-HADRON INTERACTIONS
LEPTON-NUCLEON INTERACTIONS
LEPTONS
MATERIALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METALS
MULTIWIRE PROPORTIONAL CHAMBERS
MUONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PROPORTIONAL COUNTERS
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATIONS
REACTOR MATERIALS
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SECONDARY COSMIC RADIATION
SIMULATION
TRANSITION ELEMENTS