Chemical warfare agent and high explosive identification by spectroscopy of neutron-induced gamma rays

A nondestructive assay method to identify chemical warfare (CW) agents and high explosive (HE) munitions was tested with actual chemical agents and explosives. The assay method exploits the gamma radiation produced by neutron interactions inside a container or munition to identify the elemental comp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States) 1992-10, Vol.39 (5), p.1422-1426
Main Authors: Caffrey, A.J., Cole, J.D., Gehrke, R.J., Greenwood, R.C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
400101 > Activation, Nuclear Reaction, Radiometric & Radiochemical Procedures
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
Chemical elements
CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS
CHLORINE
Containers
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
Exact sciences and technology
EXPLOSIVES
GAMMA RADIATION
Gamma rays
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
HALOGENS
High definition video
INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy
INTERACTIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
NEUTRON SOURCES
Neutrons
NITROGEN
NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS
Nondestructive testing
NONMETALS
PARTICLE SOURCES
PHOSPHORUS
Physics
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIATIONS
SPECTROSCOPY
SULFUR
Weapons
WEAPONS 450100 > Military Technology, Weaponry, & National Defense-- Chemical Explosions & Explosives
X- and γ-ray instruments and techniques
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Description
Summary:A nondestructive assay method to identify chemical warfare (CW) agents and high explosive (HE) munitions was tested with actual chemical agents and explosives. The assay method exploits the gamma radiation produced by neutron interactions inside a container or munition to identify the elemental composition of its contents. The characteristic gamma-ray signature of the chemical elements chlorine, phosphorus, and sulfur were observed from the CW agent containers and munitions, in sufficient detail to allow identification of agents GC (sarin), HD (mustard gas) and VX from one another, and from HE-filled munitions. By detecting of the presence of nitrogen, the key indicator of explosive compounds, and the absence of elements Cl, P, and S, HE shells were also clearly identified.< >
ISSN:0018-9499
1558-1578
DOI:10.1109/23.173218