Detection of Highly Enriched Uranium Using a Pulsed Inertial Electrostatic Confinement D-D Fusion Device

摘要

This paper overviews the work that has been done to date toward the development of a inexpensive, reliable, and portable means to detect highly enriched uranium (HEU) and other fissile materials. The specific goals of this research include the characterization of the current inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) ion source to determine optimum conditions for pulsed IEC operation, the development of a pulsed IEC neutron source that can provide 10~(10) D-D neutron/s pulses, with a 10~8 average D-D neutron/s level, and the construction of a detector system to detect delayed neutrons generated by a uranium target being irradiated by a pulsed IEC neutron source. It is proposed that the completion of these goals will allow the construction of a proof-of-principle HEU detection system at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.