Brian J. Quiter

MCNP/X Form Factor Upgrade for Improved Photon Transport

Abstract The angular distribution of scattered photons is incorrect in MCNPX and MCNP5 because the incoherent and coherent form factors are obsolete. The obsolete data affect all photon transport problems with E > 74 keV. Elastic backscatter for E > 105 keV is completely missing. Consequently, a new ACE-format photoatomic data library, tentatively named MCPLIB05 and referred to herein as MCPLIB05T, has been developed for MCNP/X. Data in MCPLIB05T other than form factors are identical to that in its predecessor photoatomic library, MCPLIB04. The new form factor data in MCPLIB05T come directly from ENDF/B-VII (rev. 0) and are in a format incompatible with older versions of MCNP/X. Consequently, a new version of MCNP/X has been developed to identify and use the new MCPLIB05T data and yet retain backward compatibility, including tracking, when MCPLIB04 is used. The NJOY nuclear data processing system is undergoing development to enable future generations of photoatomic data libraries with modern form factor data in the new format.

CsI(Na) Detector Array Characterization for ARES Program

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have been supporting the Transformational and Applied Research Directorate in the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office of the Department of Homeland Security to define needs for, to develop, and to test a scintillator-based radiation detection and localization system to be fielded on a helicopter platform - the so-called Airborne Radiological Enhanced-sensor System. The system comprises an array of 92 CsI(Na) detectors that are arranged to function as an active mask to encode the directionality in the roll-dimension of measured gamma rays and is additionally capable of Compton imaging. Additional contextual sensors and specially-developed algorithms are also being fielded for characterization with the goal of detecting, localizing, and helping to interdict radiological and nuclear threats via airborne search. The algorithms that are being developed leverage contextual information including topography, geography, hyperspectral imagery, video tracking, and platform positioning. This paper describes recent characterization efforts of the CsI(Na) detector system including energy, position, and timing resolution and synchronization between the 184 individual photomultiplier tubes.

GRDC. A Collaborative Framework for Radiological Background and Contextual Data Analysis

Author(s): Quiter, Brian, J; Ramakrishnan, Lavanya; Bandstra, Mark, S | Abstract: The Radiation Mobile Analysis Platform (RadMAP) is unique in its capability to collect both high quality radiological data from both gamma-ray detectors and fast neutron detectors and a broad array of contextual data that includes positioning and stance data, high-resolution 3D radiological data from weather sensors, LiDAR, and visual and hyperspectral cameras. The datasets obtained from RadMAP are both voluminous and complex and require analyses from highly diverse communities within both the national laboratory and academic communities. Maintaining a high level of transparency will enable analysis products to further enrich the RadMAP dataset. It is in this spirit of open and collaborative data that the RadMAP team proposed to collect, calibrate, and make available online data from the RadMAP system. The Berkeley Data Cloud (BDC) is a cloud-based data management framework that enables web-based data browsing visualization, and connects curated datasets to custom workflows such that analysis products can be managed and disseminated while maintaining user access rights. BDC enables cloud-based analyses of large datasets in a manner that simulates real-time data collection, such that BDC can be used to test algorithm performance on real and source-injected datasets. Using the BDC framework, a subset of the RadMAP datasets have been disseminated via the Gamma Ray Data Cloud (GRDC) that is hosted through the National Energy Research Science Computing (NERSC) Center, enabling data access to over 40 users at 10 institutions.

Measurement of the Energy-Dependent Angular Response of the ARES Detector System and Application to Aerial Imaging

The Airborne Radiological Enhanced-sensor System (ARES) includes a prototype helicopter-borne CsI(Na) detector array that has been developed as part of the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office Advanced Technology Demonstration. The detector system geometry comprises two pairs of 23-detector arrays designed to function as active masks, providing additional angular resolution of measured gamma rays in the roll dimension. Experimental measurements, using five radioisotopes (¹³⁷Cs, ⁶⁰Co, ²⁴¹Am, ¹³¹I, and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation=LaTeX>

Advanced Concepts in Multi-dimensional Radiation Detection and Imaging

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Multiagency Urban Search Experiment Detector and Algorithm Test Bed

</tex-math></inline-formula>Tc), were performed to map the detector response in both roll and pitch dimensions. This paper describes the acquisition and analysis of these characterization measurements, calculation of the angular response of the ARES system, and how this response function is used to improve aerial detection and localization of radiological and nuclear threat sources.

List-mode source injection algorithm for detectors with arbitrary pose and trajectory

Advanced concepts in radiation detection and imaging significantly enhance the capabilities relevant for nuclear security and safety as well as in prevention and in response to nuclear and radiological attack. More recent developments in combining radiological and nuclear detection concepts with complementary sensor data and information provide yet further improved capabilities in these areas as well as in risk management and mitigation. We briefly discuss some of the new concepts and technologies that are being developed and implemented in the Berkeley Applied Nuclear Physics program. They range from micrometer resolution scale instruments that enable new means in detecting and reconstructing gamma rays to meter-scale instruments necessary to enable standoff detection capabilities. Complementary to that, contextual and environmental data are being measured and correlated with nuclear signatures and backgrounds to increase the ability to detect weak sources in the midst of spatially and temporally varying backgrounds. The concept of three-dimensional, volumetric imaging will be described as well the concept of the Nuclear Street View, both related concepts relevant for the detection and characterization of nuclear materials and associated activities. Finally, the impact of these technologies in the effective assessment of structures and radiation after a radiological or nuclear event will be discussed.

Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence for Safeguards Applications

In order to provide benchmark data sets for radiation detector and algorithm development, a particle transport test bed has been created using experimental data as model input and validation. A detailed radiation measurement campaign at the Combined Arms Collective Training Facility in Fort Indiantown Gap, PA (FTIG), USA, provides sample background radiation levels for a variety of materials present at the site (including cinder block, gravel, asphalt, and soil) using long dwell high-purity germanium (HPGe) measurements. In addition, detailed light detection and ranging data and ground-truth measurements inform model geometry. This paper describes the collected data and the application of these data to create background and injected source synthetic data for an arbitrary gamma-ray detection system using particle transport model detector response calculations and statistical sampling. In the methodology presented here, HPGe measurements inform model source terms while detector response calculations are validated via long dwell measurements using 2”

CCD-based diagnostics for pulsed MeV photon beams

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FIER: Software for analytical modeling of delayed gamma-ray spectra

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