High-Yield Neutron Source for Cargo Container Screening

Author

Ludewigt, Bernhard A. ; Bleuel, Darren L. ; Kwan, Joe W. ; Li, Derun ; Ratti, Alex ; Staples, John W. ; Virostek, Steven P. ; Wells, Russell P.

Author_Institution

Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Lab., CA

Volume

1

fYear

2006

fDate

Oct. 29 2006-Nov. 1 2006

Firstpage

300

Lastpage

303

Abstract

A high-yield neutron source has been designed for the screening of sea-land cargo containers for shielded special nuclear materials (SNM). The accelerator-driven neutron source utilizes the D(d,n)³He reaction to produce a forward directed neutron beam. The key components of the neutron source are a high-current radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator and a high-power neutron production target. A thin entrance window has been designed that minimizes the energy loss of the deuteron beam and withstands the gas pressure. The source will be capable of delivering a neutron flux of up to 2 middot 10⁷ n/(cm²middots) at a distance of 2.5 m from the target and will allow the comprehensive testing and demonstration of active neutron interrogation.

Keywords

deuteron-nucleus reactions; freight containers; neutron sources; nuclear materials packaging; nuclear materials transportation; radiation detection; accelerator driven neutron source utilizes; active neutron interrogation; cargo container screening; high current RFQ accelerator; high power neutron production target; high yield neutron source; radiofrequency quadrupole; sea land cargo containers; shielded SNM; special nuclear materials; Acceleration; Containers; Delay; Forward contracts; Interference; Laboratories; Neutrons; Nuclear and plasma sciences; Particle beams; Telephony;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, 2006. IEEE

Conference_Location

San Diego, CA

ISSN

1095-7863

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0560-2

Electronic_ISBN

1095-7863

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NSSMIC.2006.356161

Filename

4179000