Plutonium metal vs. oxide determination with the pulse-shape-discrimination-capable plastic scintillator EJ-299-33

Neutron measurements can be used to distinguish plutonium in metal or oxide form, a capability that is of great interest in nuclear nonproliferation, treaty verification, and other applications. This paper describes measurements performed on well-characterized samples of plutonium oxide and plutoniu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2014-12, Vol.767 (C), p.188-192
Main Authors: Pozzi, S.A., Bourne, M.M., Dolan, J.L., Polack, K., Lawrence, C., Flaska, M., Clarke, S.D., Tomanin, A., Peerani, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accelerators
Detectors
EJ-299-33
Liquids
Metal vs. oxide
Neutron detector
NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
Oxides
Plastic scintillator
Plutonium
Polymers
Pulse height
Pulse shape
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Summary:Neutron measurements can be used to distinguish plutonium in metal or oxide form, a capability that is of great interest in nuclear nonproliferation, treaty verification, and other applications. This paper describes measurements performed on well-characterized samples of plutonium oxide and plutonium metal using the pulse-shape-discrimination-capable plastic scintillator EJ-299-33. Results are compared to those obtained with a same-sized detector cell using the liquid scintillator EJ-309. The same optimized, digital pulse shape discrimination technique is applied to both detectors and the neutron pulse height distributions are compared. Results show that the EJ-299-33 plastics can be successfully used for plutonium measurements, where the gamma ray to neutron detection ratio is much higher than for typical radioactive sources. Results also show that EJ-299-33 detectors can be used to characterize plutonium samples, specifically to discriminate between plutonium metal and oxide.
ISSN:0168-9002
1872-9576
DOI:10.1016/j.nima.2014.08.002