Neutron detection with large plastic scintillators for RPM applications
Abstract
Homeland security requests the use of Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM) to detect and differentiate gamma and neutron radiation. Gamma detection is required for illicit transportation of radioactive matter detection. Neutron detection is important to control nonproliferation of enriched material. Manufacturers worldwide propose sensors based on 3He which give the actual state of art in term of neutron detection. The price fluctuations due to the announcement of the shortage of 3He forces manufacturers to find viable alternative. From 10 years sensors providers have the challenge to replace previous 3He detectors that are known to be the most commonly deployed neutron sensor. As $^3$He detectors can only detect neutron, they must be completed with gamma detector. The proposed approach is based on pulse time correlation between adjacent sensors from signal collected by EJ200 plastic scintillators to detect gamma and neutron. Results obtained during FP7 Scintilla project test campaigns show the system relevance for replacement of today's $^3$He detectors.
Keywords
plastic scintillator
instrumentation
nuclear instrumentation
ionizing radiation
radioactivity
RPM applications
helium-3 detectors
pulse time correlation
radioactive matter detection
gamma detection
homeland security
radiation portal monitor
Nuclear measurements
neutrons
gamma-rays
Solid scintillation detectors
Security
helium-3 counters
neutron detection
Neutron-gamma discrimination
detector
sensor
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