Evaluation of pulsed-power architectures for active detection

Summary form only given. Intense pulsed active detection (IPAD) has been proposed as a means of detecting contraband fissile material. In this approach, an intense bremsstrahlung pulse is used to induce photofission, the products of which are detected. In this work, we report on an initial effort to evaluate the applicability of various pulsed-power architectures to this approach. It is assumed the electron energy is 12 MeV with an effective electron charge at 12 MeV of 3 to 5 mC delivered in <; 100 ms. For this study, either a single pulse or a burst is delivered at ~0.01 Hz. The goals for the accelerator are compactness, especially short length; relatively light weight; transportability; and ease of setup, teardown, and operation. It was desired to minimize the research and development involved if there were to be an eventual design and construction effort.We compare induction voltage adders (IVA), ferrite-core linear induction accelerators (LIA), and linear transformer drivers (LTD). A conceptual point-design is developed for each case using essentially demonstrated technology, though the 12-MV LTD assumes scaling and repackaging.