Uncovering Special Nuclear Materials by Low-energy Nuclear Reaction Imaging
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.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1253860
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-116011
- Journal Information:
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 6; ISSN 2045-2322
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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 |
Similar Records
Detection of special nuclear material from delayed neutron emission induced by a dual-particle monoenergetic source
Detection of special nuclear material from delayed neutron emission induced by a dual-particle monoenergetic source