Year
2010
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration launched the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI) in 2008. A core NGSI objective is to develop technologies that will strengthen and sustain the international safeguards system as it evolves to meet new challenges. One such challenge has already materialized in the form of a shortage of helium-3 (3He), a material with uniquely attractive properties for neutron detection and coincidence counting for some of the nondestructive assay (NDA) measurements used in international safeguards. Other challenges include the need for portable, high-performance gamma detectors for complimentary access inspections and enrichment measurements, as well as radiation detectors that can operate with high reliability in harsh environments such as acid or salt baths or areas with extreme temperatures, high humidity or elevated radiation fields. In July 2009, NGSI funded a workshop at LLNL on alternative detector materials for safeguards featuring current, planned, and theoretical efforts to address these challenges. NGSI will continue to monitor and support these efforts, and is already funding several projects designed to test and further develop some of the more promising 3He alternatives that have been proposed to date, including an array of liquid scintillators and new, soon- to-be commercially available boron-10 (10B) lined tubes in novel configurations. This paper will review existing safeguards-specific technological and policy challenges, explain the steps that NGSI is taking to assist in the development of alternative detector materials for safeguards applications, and assess the progress and potential of current efforts.