Guangliang Yang

GEANT4 Simulation of a Scintillating-Fibre Tracker for the Cosmic-ray Muon Tomography of Legacy Nuclear Waste Containers

Cosmic-ray muons are highly penetrative charged particles that are observed at the sea level with a flux of approximately one per square centimetre per minute. They interact with matter primarily through Coulomb scattering, which is exploited in the field of muon tomography to image shielded objects in a wide range of applications. In this paper, simulation studies are presented that assess the feasibility of a scintillating-fibre tracker system for use in the identification and characterisation of nuclear materials stored within industrial legacy waste containers. A system consisting of a pair of tracking modules above and a pair below the volume to be assayed is simulated within the GEANT4 framework using a range of potential fibre pitches and module separations. Each module comprises two orthogonal planes of fibres that allow the reconstruction of the initial and Coulomb-scattered muon trajectories. A likelihood-based image reconstruction algorithm has been developed that allows the container content to be determined with respect to the scattering density λ, a parameter which is related to the atomic number Z of the scattering material. Images reconstructed from this simulation are presented for a range of anticipated scenarios that highlight the expected image resolution and the potential of this system for the identification of high-Z materials within a shielded, concrete-filled container. First results from a constructed prototype system are presented in comparison with those from a detailed simulation. Excellent agreement between experimental data and simulation is observed showing clear discrimination between the different materials assayed throughout.

The design and performance of a scintillating-fibre tracker for the cosmic-ray muon tomography of legacy nuclear waste containers

Tomographic imaging techniques using the Coulomb scattering of cosmic-ray muons are increasingly being exploited for the non-destructive assay of shielded containers in a wide range of applications. One such application is the characterisation of legacy nuclear waste materials stored within industrial containers. The design, assembly and performance of a prototype muon tomography system developed for this purpose are detailed in this work. This muon tracker comprises four detection modules, each containing orthogonal layers of Saint-Gobain BCF-10 2 mm-pitch plastic scintillating fibres. Identification of the two struck fibres per module allows the reconstruction of a space point, and subsequently, the incoming and Coulomb-scattered muon trajectories. These allow the container content, with respect to the atomic number Z of the scattering material, to be determined through reconstruction of the scattering location and magnitude. On each detection layer, the light emitted by the fibre is detected by a single Hamamatsu H8500 MAPMT with two fibres coupled to each pixel via dedicated pairing schemes developed to ensure the identification of the struck fibre. The PMT signals are read out to standard charge-to-digital converters and interpreted via custom data acquisition and analysis software. The design and assembly of the detector system are detailed and presented alongside results from performance studies with data collected after construction. These results reveal high stability during extended collection periods with detection efficiencies in the region of 80% per layer. Minor misalignments of millimetre order have been identified and corrected in software. A first image reconstructed from a test configuration of materials has been obtained using software based on the Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximisation algorithm. The results highlight the high spatial resolution provided by the detector system. Clear discrimination between the low, medium and high-Z materials assayed is also observed.

Characterising encapsulated nuclear waste using cosmic-ray muon tomography

A prototype scintillating-fibre detector system has been developed at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) for the non-destructive assay of UK legacy nuclear waste containers. This system consists of four tracking modules, two above and two below the container under interrogation. Each module consists of two orthogonal planes of 2 mm-pitch fibres yielding one space point. Per plane, 128 fibres are read out by a single Hamamatsu H8500 64-channel MAPMT with two fibres multiplexed onto each pixel. The configuration allows the reconstruction of the incoming and scattered muon trajectories, thus enabling the container content, with respect to atomic number Z, to be determined. Results are shown from experimental data collected for high-Z objects within an air matrix and within a shielded, concrete-filled container. These reconstructed images show clear discrimination between the low, medium and high-Z materials present, with dimensions and positions determined with sub-centimetre precision.

Assessing the feasibility of interrogating nuclear waste storage silos using cosmic-ray muons

Muon radiography is a fast growing field in applied scientific research. In recent years, many detector technologies and imaging techniques using the Coulomb scattering and absorption properties of cosmic-ray muons have been developed for the non-destructive assay of various structures across a wide range of applications. This work presents the first results that assess the feasibility of using muon radiography to interrogate waste silos within the U.K. Nuclear Industry. Two such approaches, using different techniques that exploit each of these properties, have previously been published, and show promising results from both simulation and experimental data for the detection of shielded high-Z materials and density variations from volcanic assay. Both detection systems used are based on scintillator and photomultiplier technologies. Results from dedicated simulation studies using both these proven technologies and image reconstruction techniques are presented for an intermediate-sized legacy nuclear waste storage facility filled with concrete and an array of uranium samples. Both results highlight the potential to identify uranium objects of varying thicknesses greater than 5 cm within real-time durations of several weeks. Increased contributions from Coulomb scattering within the concrete matrix of the structure hinder the ability of both approaches to resolve similar objects of 2 cm dimensions even with increased statistics. These results are all dependent on both the position of the objects within the facility and the locations of the detectors. Results for differing thicknesses of concrete, which reflect the non-standard composition of these complex, legacy structures under interrogation, are also presented alongside studies performed for a series of data collection durations. It is anticipated that with further research and optimisation of detector technologies and geometries, muon radiography in one, or both of these forms, will play a key role in future industrial applications within the U.K. Nuclear Industry.

Characterising encapsulated nuclear waste using cosmic-ray Muon Tomography (MT)

A prototype scintillating-fibre detector system has been developed at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) for the non-destructive assay of UK legacy nuclear waste containers. This system consists of four tracking modules, two above and two below the container under interrogation. Each module consists of two orthogonal planes of 2 mm-pitch fibres yielding one space point. Per plane, 128 fibres are read out by a single Hamamatsu H8500 64-channel MAPMT with two fibres multiplexed onto each pixel. The configuration allows the reconstruction of the incoming and scattered muon trajectories, thus enabling the container content, with respect to atomic number Z, to be determined. Results are shown from experimental data collected for high-Z objects within an air matrix and within a shielded, concrete-filled container. These reconstructed images show clear discrimination between the low, medium and high-Z materials present, with dimensions and positions determined with sub-centimetre precision.

Machine Learning for Muon Imaging

Muon imaging is a new imaging technique which can be used to image large bulky objects, especially objects with heavy shielding where other techniques like X-ray CT scanning will often fail. This is due to the fact that high energy cosmic rays have a very high penetrative power and can easily penetrate hundreds of meters of rock. Muon imaging is essentially an inverse problem. There are two popular forms of muon imaging techniques - absorption muon imaging based on the attenuation of muons in matter and multiple scattering muon imaging based on the multiple scattering effect of muons. Muon imaging can be used in many areas, ranging from volcanology and searching for secret cavities in pyramids over border monitoring for special nuclear materials to nuclear safeguards applications for monitoring the spent fuel casks. Due to the lack of man-made muon sources, both of the muon imaging techniques rely on cosmic ray muons. One important shortcoming of comic ray muons are the very low intensities. In order to get high image resolutions, very long exposure times are needed. In this paper, we will study how machine learning techniques can be used to improve the muon imaging techniques.

Feasibility study of detection of high-Z material in nuclear waste storage facilities with atmosperic muons

Muon radiography is a well-established technique which is widely used in investigating the internal density structure of targets of different size and composition. Some examples of successful applications are the search for hidden chambers in archaeological sites and the monitoring of geological structures like volcanoes. The two main approaches to muon radiography are based on the effects of multiple Coulomb scattering and on absorption inside the target of atmospheric muons. The results of a Monte Carlo feasibility study of using muon radiography to investigate the presence of high-Z material (e.g. uranium) inside nuclear waste storage facilities using both the above mentioned techniques are presented. Albeit muon radiography has already been successfully applied to this kind of investigation in the past, this is the first time that it is benchmarked against the detection of cm-sized, high-Z samples inside building-sized storage facilities. For both multiple scattering and absorption approaches, preliminary results show that uranium samples of typical size greater than 5 cm can be detected inside a storage silo with a size of some meter filled with concrete, with a data taking period of several weeks. Smaller samples with size 2 cm are not detectable due to multiple scattering within the concrete matrix. The dependence of these results on the position of the samples and on the duration of data acquisition have been investigated and are reported as well, together with an estimate of the detection probability for fake signals.