Fast-Neutron Coded-Aperture Imaging of Special Nuclear Material Configurations

In the past year, a prototype fast-neutron coded-aperture imager has been developed that has sufficient efficiency and resolution to make the counting of warheads for possible future treaty confirmation scenarios via their fission-neutron emissions practical. The imager is constructed from custom-built pixelated liquid scintillator detectors. The liquid scintillator detectors enable neutron-gamma discrimination via pulse shape, and the pixelated construction enables a sufficient number of pixels for imaging in a compact detector with a manageable number of channels of readout electronics. The imager has been used to image neutron sources at ORNL, special nuclear material (SNM) sources at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) facility, and neutron sources and shielding configurations at Sandia National Laboratories. This paper reports on the design and construction of the imager, characterization measurements with neutron sources at ORNL, and measurements with SNM at the INL ZPPR facility.