Development of a phoswich detector system for radioxenon monitoring

Journal Article · Thu Dec 03 04:00:00 EST 2009 · Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 282(3):681-685

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0181-9· OSTI ID:969167

Hennig, Wolfgang; Warburton, William K; Fallu-Labruyere, A; Sabourov, K; Cooper, Matthew W; McIntyre, Justin I; Gleyzer, A; Bean, Marc; Korpach, E; Ungar, R Kurt; Zhang, W; Mekarski, P

Abstract Measurement of radioactive xenon in the atmosphere is one of several techniques to detect nuclear weapons testing. For high sensitivity, some existing systems use beta/gamma coincidence detection to suppress background, which is very effective, but increases complexity due to separate beta and gamma detectors that require careful calibration and gain matching. In this paper, we will describe the development and evaluation of a simpler detector system, named PhosWatch, consisting of a CsI(Tl)/ BC-404 phoswich well detector, digital readout electronics, and pulse shape analysis algorithms implemented in a digital signal processor on the electronics, and compare its performance to existing multi-detector systems.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 969167
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-69253; NN2003000
• Journal Information: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 282(3):681-685, Journal Name: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 282(3):681-685 Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 282; ISSN JRNCDM; ISSN 0236-5731
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ALGORITHMS
CALIBRATION
DETECTION
EVALUATION
MONITORING
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PERFORMANCE
Phoswich Detector System
RADIATION MONITORING
SENSITIVITY
TESTING
XENON ISOTOPES
radioxenon monitoring