Lanthanum Bromide Detectors for Safeguards Measurements

Lanthanum bromide has advantages over other popular inorganic scintillator detectors. Lanthanum bromide offers superior resolution, and good efficiency when compared to sodium iodide and lanthanum chloride. It is a good alternative to high purity germanium detectors for some safeguards applications. This paper offers an initial look at lanthanum bromide detectors. Resolution of lanthanum bromide will be compared lanthanum chloride and sodium-iodide detectors through check source measurements. Relative efficiency and angular dependence will be looked at. Nuclear material spectra, to include plutonium and highly enriched uranium, will be compared between detector types.