Fast neutrons produced via D+T reactions and tagged by the associated particle technique have been recently proposed to inspect cargo containers. The general characteristics of this technique are ...studied with Monte Carlo simulations by determining the properties of the tagged neutron beams as a function of the relevant design parameters (energy and size of the deuteron beam, geometry of the charged particle detector). Results from simulations, validated by experiments, show that the broadening of the correlation between the
α-particle and the neutron, induced by kinematical as well as geometrical (beam and detector size) effects, is important and limits the dimension of the minimum voxel to be inspected. Moreover, the effect of the container filling is explored. The material filling produces a sizeable loss of correlation between
α-particles and neutrons due to scattering and absorption. Conditions in inspecting cargo containers are discussed.
In-medium phenomena of low density nuclear matter are studied using collisions of 47 A MeV 40 Ar and 64 Zn projectiles with 112Sn and 124Sn target nuclei. Low density equations of state are tested by ...confronting various models with the data. In-medium cluster binding energies and symmetry density are also studied at low densities. We find that models that account for in-medium effects in general describe the data better than models that do not.
The muon tomography technique, based on the Multiple Coulomb Scattering of cosmic ray muons, has been proposed recently as a tool to perform non-destructive assays of large-volume objects without any ...radiation hazard. In this paper we discuss experimental results obtained with a scanning system prototype, assembled using two large-area CMS Muon Barrel drift chambers. The capability of the apparatus to produce 3D images of objects and to classify them according to their density is presented. We show that the absorption of low-momentum muons in the scanned objects produces an underestimate of their scattering density, making the discrimination of materials heavier than lead more difficult.
A prototype of portable sealed neutron generator has been recently built to deliver 14MeV neutron beams tagged by a YAP:Ce α-particle detector. In order to produce simultaneously multiple neutron ...beams to irradiate complex samples, a study of the position sensitivity of the α-particle detector has been performed. Possible applications in non-destructive analysis and future developments of the tagged neutron inspection system (TNIS) concept are discussed.
A thermal neutron sensor prototype for Humanitarian Demining has been developed, trying to minimize cost and complexity of the system as required in such application. A
252Cf source or a sealed-tube ...neutron generator is employed to produce primary fast neutrons that are thermalized in a moderator designed to optimize the neutron capture reaction yield in buried samples. A description of the sensor, including the performances of the acquisition system based on a Flash ADC card and final tests with explosive simulants are reported. A comparison of the sensor performance when using a radioactive source to that when employing a sealed-tube neutron generator is presented. Limitations and possible applications of this technique are discussed.
Passive nuclear track detectors in the study of multi fragmentation and compound nucleus fission in the fusion reaction
54Cr
+
208Pb, leading to composite systems with
Z
=
106 is given. Results ...indicate that mostly nuclear tracks are related to fragments with low atomic number and less than 11% to beam like particles in opposition to the expected distribution.
The detection of landmines by using available technologies is a time consuming, expensive and extremely dangerous job, so that there is a need for a technological breakthrough in this field. Atomic ...and nuclear physics based sensors might offer new possibilities in de-mining. Technology and methods derived from the studies applied to the detection of landmines can be successfully applied to the screening of cargo in customs inspections.
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