Nuclear detection

Survey of Non-Neutron-Based Nuclear Detection Methods... 

The following sections present a summary of the physics that underlies the nuclear detection technologies, a survey of neutron-based detection approaches, and an overview of non-neutron-based nuclear detection technologies. 

The following subsections present background material on the physics and nomenclature used to address the nuclear detection technologies. The subsections are divided into neutron- and non-neutron-based nuclear detection methods. 

Nuclear detection approaches that use radioactive isotojjic sources (e.g., Cf for spontaneous fission and asociated neutron emission or ° Co for gamma emission) will have to obtain state and federal hcenses to field the equipment and abide by apphcable health and safety regulations. The Hcensing process takes some time to put into place and may restrict the easy movement of the detection equipment to new locations. This impacts the abffity to rapidly re-locate equipment based up inteUigence estimates of the behavior of smugglers. The use of fixed pre-licensed sites can help to some extent. 

In PARR-1 a new application of real-time signal processing has been used. Statistical analysis of signals from reactor instrumentation channels is done in real-time for evaluation of instrumentation performance. The computer calculates mean value, standard deviation errors, and probability distribution function of the signals and compares these errors with reference errors of nuclear detection phenomena. In case of a malfunction in any part of instrumentation, the signal error exceeds the reference error and the computer generates an alarm. In this way a faulty instrument channel is identified. 

Standard deviation error of the signal from a nuclear channel gives a handle to determine the performance of the channel. In practice, nuclear detection phenomena have statistical fluctuations arovmd their mean value [6]. The measuring instrumentation also introduces additional error due to the electronic noise. In case of some malfunction in any part of the channel (from the nuclear detector to the output stage), the standard deviation of the channel signal will exceed the nuclear error by a wide margin. Also a zero value of signal mean and standard deviation would indicate an open connection somewhere in the channel circuit. 

The protection system was designed to avoid any unsafe condition. It was subdivided into two subsystems, the nuclear detection subsystem and the interlock subsystem. The nuclear detection subsystem is used to monitor neutron flux level and period. It is composed of 8 nuclear channels to monitor the neutron flux from start up to 100% of full power (100 watts), including comparators and isolation ampliBers. Three channels are used in the start-up region, and the others in the intermediate and power regions. In each region we have three measurements of the neutron flux (power) and three measurements of the period. The nuclear channels are complemented by two linear channels, used (alternatively) to control the reactor in automatic mode. Figure 5 shows the relative location of the detectors, and the operational interval of them. 

Eddy-current non-destructive evaluation is widely used in the aerospace and nuclear power industries for the detection and characterisation of defects in metal components. The ability to predict the probe response to various types of defect is highly valuable since it enables the influence of particular parameters to be studied without recourse to costly and time consuming experiments. The solution of forward problems is also essential in the process of inverting experimental data. 

The case of thin-skin regime appears in various industrial sectors such as aerospace (with aluminium parts) and also nuclear in tubes (with ferromagnetic parts or mild steel components). The detection of deeper defects depends of course on the choice of the frequency and the dimension of the probe. Modelling can evaluate different solutions for a type of testing in order to help to choose the best NDT system. 

During many years in Scientific Research Institutes of Nuclear Physics and Introscopy at Tomsk Polytechnical University (TPU) researches into induction electron accelerators and their uses for non-destructive radiation quality control of materials and articles have been conducted. Control sensitivity and efficiency detection experimental researches have been conducted with the high-current stereo-betatron modifications [1], and KBC-25 M and BC-50 high-current betatrons [2,3] in range of 11 MeV and 25-50 MeV radiation energy. 

RCT are designed to successfully solve a whole number of tasks in nuclear power when testing fuel elements, in aviation and space industry when testing construction materials, nozzles and engine units, turbine blades and parts, in electromechanical industry-cables switching elements, electric motors in defense sphere- charges, equipment in prospecting for research of rock distribution and detection of precious stones in samples. 

With the use of Cs source tomographic layer-by-layer study of nuclear fuel within a range of 5 to 12 g/sm is conducted. In the specialized tomograph the initial information measurement time is 5-30 min, the tomograms restoration time is 4-10 min. The sensitivity to a various density is about 5% when detecting local areas with a diameter exceeding 0.5mm. 

Comcidence experiments have been connnon in nuclear physics since the 1930s.The widely used coincidence circuit of Rossi [9] allowed experimenters to detennine, within tire resolution time of the electronics of the day, whether two events were coincident in time. The early circuits were capable of submicrosecond resolution, but lacked the flexibility of today s equipment. The most important distinction between modem comcidence methods and those of the earlier days is the availability of semiconductor memories that allow one to now record precisely the time relations between all particles detected in an experiment. We shall see the importance of tliis in the evaluation of the statistical uncertainty of the results. 

Therefore, in NMR, one observes collective nuclear spin motions at the Lannor frequency. Thus the frequency of NMR detection is proportional to Nuclear magnetic moments are connnonly measured either... 

The low MW power levels conuuonly employed in TREPR spectroscopy do not require any precautions to avoid detector overload and, therefore, the fiill time development of the transient magnetization is obtained undiminished by any MW detection deadtime. (3) Standard CW EPR equipment can be used for TREPR requiring only moderate efforts to adapt the MW detection part of the spectrometer for the observation of the transient response to a pulsed light excitation with high time resolution. (4) TREPR spectroscopy proved to be a suitable teclmique for observing a variety of spin coherence phenomena, such as transient nutations [16], quantum beats [17] and nuclear modulations [18], that have been usefi.il to interpret EPR data on light-mduced spm-correlated radical pairs. 

More sophisticated pulse sequences have been developed to detect nuclear modulation effects. With a five-pulse sequence it is theoretically possible to obtain modulation amplitudes up to eight times greater than in a tlnee-pulse experunent, while at the same time the umnodulated component of the echo is kept close to zero. A four-pulse ESEEM experiment has been devised to greatly improve the resolution of sum-peak spectra. 

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