A method and a system for detecting the presence of special nuclear materials in a suspect container. The system and its method include irradiating the suspect container with a beam of neutrons, so as to induce a thermal fission in a portion of the special nuclear materials, detecting the gamma rays that are emitted from the fission products formed by the thermal fission, to produce a detector signal, comparing the detector signal with a threshold value to form a comparison, and detecting the presence of the special nuclear materials using the comparison.

Detecting special nuclear materials in suspect containers using high-energy gamma rays emitted by fission products

A concept for detecting the presence of special nuclear material (235U or 239Pu) concealed in intermodal cargo containers has been developed, studied, and recent performance results are described. It is based on interrogation with a pulsed beam of 3–7 MeV neutrons that produce fission events and subsequent detection of their β-delayed neutron emission or β-delayed high-energy γ-radiation reveals the presence of fissionable material. Fission product β-delayed γ-rays above 3 MeV are nearly 10 times more abundant than β-delayed neutrons and are distinct from natural radioactivity and from nearly all of the induced activity in a normal cargo. Detector backgrounds and potential interferences with the fission signature radiation have been identified and quantified. Their impact on detection sensitivity is relatively minor and can be addressed readily. Components of a simple laboratory prototype have been assembled, tested with the most challenging cargo threat scenarios, and results compared to computer simulations. Preliminary results will be presented.

The nuclear car wash: A system to detect nuclear weapons in commercial cargo shipments

A novel design for a compact gamma-ray spectrometer is presented. The proposed system allows for spectroscopy of high-flux multi-MeV gamma-ray beams with MeV energy resolution in a compact design. In its basic configuration, the spectrometer exploits conversion of gamma-rays into electrons via Compton scattering in a low-Z material. The scattered electron population is then spectrally resolved using a magnetic spectrometer. The detector is shown to be effective for gamma-ray energies between 3 and 20MeV. The main properties of the spectrometer are confirmed by Monte-Carlo simulations.

/pdf/design-of-a-compact-spectrometer-for-high-flux-mev-gamma-ray-2k0apge1ez.pdf

Design of a Compact Spectrometer for High-Flux MeV Gamma-Ray Beams

The screening of sea-going cargo containers for highly enriched uranium (HEU) and other fissile material is a challenging problem. This is due in part to the cargo itself, which acts as an attenuator to any radiation that might signal its presence. In the nuclear car wash, β-delayed high-energy γ-rays following neutron-induced fission are utilized as this signal. The delayed γ-rays above 3 MeV are highly penetrating and have energies above natural background radiation. In addition, the half-lives of most fission products emitting γ-rays at these energies are less than 160 s, making it feasible to construct decay curves on a time scale which preserves the flow of commerce through the port. A particular goal of the project is to understand the rate of false alarms. To this end, experiments are underway to investigate possible interferences, and to understand variations in the overall γ-ray background. The experiments and preliminary results are discussed. Work performed under the auspices of the DOE by the UC LLNL W7405Eng4,UCRL-PROC-224803.

Signals and interferences in the nuclear car wash

The manuscript reviews several selected applications of Activation Analysis that differ from classical laboratory measurements by the fact that they do not require sampling of the analysed object and/or measurements under analytical laboratory conditions. One of great advantages of the Activation Analysis lies in its versatility that allows it to be applied under conditions not available for other analytical techniques.

Non-classical applications of chemical analysis based on nuclear activation

A concept for detecting the presence of special nuclear material (235U or 239Pu) concealed in intermodal cargo containers is described. It is based on interrogation with a pulsed beam of 7 MeV neutrons that produce fission events and their β-delayed neutron emission or β-delayed high-energy γ radiation between beam pulses provide the detection signature. Fission product β-delayed γ-rays above 3 MeV are nearly 10 times more abundant than β-delayed neutrons and are distinct from natural radioactivity and from nearly all of the induced activity in a normal cargo. Detector backgrounds and potential interferences with the fission signature radiation have been identified and quantified.

Preliminary results utilizing high-energy fission product γ-rays to detect fissionable material in cargo

A concept for detecting the presence of special nuclear material ({sup 235}U or {sup 239}Pu) concealed in intermodal cargo containers is described. It is based on interrogation with a pulsed beam of 7 MeV neutrons that produce fission events and their {beta}-delayed neutron emission or {beta}-delayed high-energy {gamma}-radiation between beam pulses provide the detection signature. Fission product {beta}-delayed {gamma}-rays above 3 MeV are nearly ten times more abundant than {beta}-delayed neutrons and are distinct from natural radioactivity and from nearly all of the induced activity in a normal cargo. Detector backgrounds and potential interferences with the fission signature radiation have been identified and quantified. An important goal in the US is the detection of nuclear weapons or special nuclear material (SNM) concealed in intermodal cargo containers. This must be done with high detection probability, low false alarm rates, and without impeding commerce, i.e. about one minute for an inspection. The concept for inspection has been described before and its components are now being evaluated. While normal radiations emitted from plutonium may allow its detection, the majority of {sup 235}U {gamma} ray emission is at 186 keV, is readily attenuated by cargo, and thus not a reliable detection signature for passivemore » detection. Delayed neutron detection following a neutron or photon beam pulse has been used successfully to detect lightly or unshielded SNM targets. While delayed neutrons can be easily distinguished from beam neutrons they have relatively low yield in fission, approximately 0.008 per fission in {sup 239}Pu and 0.017 per fission in {sup 235}U, and are rapidly attenuated in hydrogenous materials making that technique unreliable when challenged by thick hydrogenous cargo overburden. They propose detection of {beta}-delayed high-energy {gamma} radiation as a more robust signature characteristic of SNM.« less

Early results utilizing high-energy fission product (gamma) rays to detect fissionable material in cargo

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

A. Loshak

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Preliminary results utilizing high-energy fission product γ-rays to detect fissionable material in cargo

Early results utilizing high-energy fission product (gamma) rays to detect fissionable material in cargo