Design Considerations of a Dual-Particle Imager for Non-Proliferation Applications

Year
2011
Author(s)
Sara A. Pozzi - Department of Nuclear Engineering
Michael C. Hamel - Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences
Shaun D. Clarke - Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan
Marek Flaska - Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan
Alexis Poitrasson-Riviere - University of Michigan
John K. Polack - University of Michigan
Abstract
In this work, a design study of an imaging system capable of detecting both fast neutrons and photons is presented. The system consists of three planes: two planes of organic liquid scintillators and one plane of NaI scintillators. With the liquid scintillators pulse shape discrimination may be used to differentiate neutron and photon pulses whereas the NaI scintillators are highly insensitive to neutrons. Various design parameters have been investigated using the interaction tracking capabilities of the MCNPX-PoliMi code, such as detector sizes and detector spacing. The MCNPX- PoliMi code is a modification of the MCNPX code 2.6.0. The imaging system is being optimized for the accurate detection of SNM by using properly correlated sources available in MCNPX-PoliMi.