Unattended sensors for nuclear threat detection

摘要

This paper discusses the ongoing development of a compact, unattended low-power radiation detection system designedfor autonomous operation in regions with limited or no supporting infrastructure. This application motivates our focus ontwo of the more challenging system development problems: (1) the development of compact, low-power electronics forgamma-ray spectrometers and neutron detectors, and (2) analysis algorithms capable of distinguishing special nuclearmaterial from benign sources in the opaque signatures of mid-resolution spectrometers. We discuss our developmentefforts on these fronts and present results based on implementation in a proof-of-principle system composed of two 5-cmX 10-cm X 41-cm NaI(1) crystals and eight 40-cm 3 tubes.