Neutron Measurement and Spectroscopy with Capture-Gated Organic Scintillation Detectors for Nuclear Safeguards Applications

摘要

There is a dire need for the development of data collection and analysis techniques to measure and accurately characterize special nuclear material. Specifically, there is significant room for development in the study of neutron detection using passive measurements. Such measurements were performed on mixed-oxide samples and several isotopic neutron sources at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy in June of 2010 using the scintillator-based neutron detection systems and analysis algorithms are being developed at the University of Michigan. This campaign also provided the opportunity to identify and evaluate new candidates for the replacement of current ~3He-based systems. This paper focuses on the neutron spectroscopy potential of a boron-loaded capture-gated scintillation detector.