Development of a portable X-ray and gamma-ray detector instrument and imaging camera for use in radioactive and hazardous materials management

摘要

The overall goal of this LDRD project was to develop instruments for use in the management of radioactive and hazardous wastes. Devices for identifying and imaging such wastes are critical to developing environmental remediation strategies. Field portable units are required to enable the on-site analysis of solids, liquids, and gas effluents. Red mercuric iodide ({alpha}-HgI{sub 2}) is a semiconductor material that can be operated as a high-energy-resolution radiation detector at ambient temperatures. This property provides the needed performance of conventional germanium- and silicon-based devices, while eliminating the need for the cryogenic cooling of such instruments. The first year of this project focused on improving the materials properties of the mercuric iodide to enable the new sensor technology; in particular the charge carrier traps limiting device performance were determined and eliminated. The second year involved the development of a field portable x-ray fluorescence analyzer for compositional analyses. The third and final year of the project focused on the development of imaging sensors to provide the capability for mapping the composition of waste masses. This project resulted in instruments useful not only for managing hazardous and radioactive wastes, but also in a variety of industrial and national security applications.