High-Resolution Imaging of Fission Energy Neutrons

Because of their penetrating power, energetic neutrons and gamma rays (~1 MeV) offer the best possibility of detecting, localizing, and characterizing special nuclear material (SNM). There is a class of applications, including arms control and treaty verification, in which high resolution fast neutron imaging can help determine the absence, presence, and/or distribution of SNM. In this paper we will present the development of highresolution fast neutron imagers capable of not only detecting, but characterizing the spatial distribution of SNM. Results from laboratory tests of several fast neutron imagers with extended neutron source distributions are discussed.