Favalli A, Henzlova D C, Croft S, Deppert O, Falk K, Fernandez J C, Gautier D C, Guler N, Hamilton C E, Ianakiev K D, Iliev M, Johnson R P, Kleinschmidt A, Roth M, Shimada T N, Swinhoe M, Taddeucci T N
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87544, USA.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 3;15(1):724. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82641-y.
Detecting shielded special nuclear material, such as nuclear explosives, is a difficult challenge pursued by non-proliferation, anti-terrorism, and nuclear security programs worldwide. Interrogation with intense fast-neutron pulses is a promising method to characterize concealed nuclear material rapidly but is limited by suitable source availability and proven instrumentation. In this study we have pioneered a demonstration of such an interrogation method using a high-intensity, short-pulse, laser-driven neutron source that offers potential benefits compared to conventional neutron sources. The measurement results reported here represent the first experimental demonstration of this interrogation approach on enriched uranium items and demonstrate the feasibility of a precise measurement using realistic nuclear materials, representative of field scenarios, even with just a single laser-driven neutron pulse. Bright pulsed sources can overcome the nuisance background of items with strong internal neutron sources, improving analytical power, while single-shot assay is attractive in high-throughput situations where time is at a premium. The science and technology of this type of neutron production is developing rapidly, and we anticipate that practical mobile interrogation systems will become available based on the detection concepts demonstrated here to meet the growing measurement needs.
探测诸如核爆炸物之类的屏蔽特殊核材料，是全球防扩散、反恐和核安全计划所面临的一项艰巨挑战。用高强度快中子脉冲进行探测是一种有望快速鉴定隐藏核材料的方法，但受到合适的中子源可用性和经过验证的仪器的限制。在本研究中，我们率先演示了使用高强度、短脉冲、激光驱动中子源的此类探测方法，与传统中子源相比，该方法具有潜在优势。此处报告的测量结果代表了对浓缩铀物品进行这种探测方法的首次实验演示，并证明了使用代表实地场景的真实核材料进行精确测量的可行性，即使仅使用单个激光驱动中子脉冲。明亮的脉冲源可以克服具有强内部中子源的物品产生的干扰背景，提高分析能力，而单次测量在时间非常宝贵的高通量情况下很有吸引力。这种中子产生的科学技术正在迅速发展，我们预计基于此处演示的探测概念将出现实用的移动探测系统，以满足不断增长的测量需求。
