Plutonium measurements with a fast-neutron multiplicity counter for nuclear safeguards applications

摘要

Measurements were performed at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy to field test a fast-neutron multiplicity counter developed at the University of Michigan. The measurements allowed the assessment of the system's photon discrimination abilities, efficiency when measuring neutron multiplicity, ability to characterize ~(240)Pu_(eff) mass, and performance relative to a currently deployed neutron coincidence counter. This work is motivated by the need to replace and improve upon ~3He neutron detection systems for nuclear safeguards applications.