Monte Carlo Method for Calorimetric NRF Cargo Screening
Name
bickus-jbickus-ms-nse-2021-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
3.77 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
f8b8a3a1a93770f9b194f4dffc8d574f
Author(s)
Bickus, Jacob E.
Advisor(s)
Danagoulian, Areg
Naqvi, Farheen
Date Issued
June 2021
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
A number of fields in nuclear security require isotopic analysis and identification. Nuclear resonance fluorescence(NRF) has provided a non-intrusive isotope-sensitive measurement technique to detect special nuclear material in cargo [8], and has been proposed to be used as a verification technique in arms control treaty verification [41]. Standard methods of performing NRF involve the use of expensive HPGe detectors to detect a scattered signal to discriminate between isotopes of special nuclear materials. Furthermore these require a continuous wave (CW) beam, which currently can be delivered only by large and static accelerators [40]. We propose a system using an energy-modulating chopper wheel and a simpler, pulsed electron accelerator beam as the radiation source. This work builds upon a concept presented by Kemp et al. [24], with the difference of a measurement of NRF in a scattering mode. In this approach the chopper wheel serves as a switch effectively modulating the beam to include or exclude photons of NRF energies for interrogating the test object. Comparison between the chopper "On" and "Of" will provide a differential signal which upon integration can allow inference of special nuclear materials based on their NRF signals. The approach places integrating calorimetric Cherenkov detectors at a back-scattered angle which will eliminate much of the background typically found in a transmitted spectra. Cherenkov detectors will replace the HPGe detectors in effort to decrease the low energy background. We present a thoroughly tested Monte Carlo model to compare with experimental testing using Cherenkov detectors and nuclear resonance fluorescence to discriminate between isotopes of special nuclear material. Preliminary simulation results show that a uranium interrogation object could not be determined within a 5 minute interrogation.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
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