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International Journal of Nuclear Security

Neutron counting

Publication Year

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Full-Text Articles in Nuclear Engineering

Tests Of A Gamma Spectrometer-Neutron Counter Relationship As A Neutron Alarm Metric In Mobile Radiation Search Systems, Jackson N. Wagner, Craig Marianno Dec 2023

Tests Of A Gamma Spectrometer-Neutron Counter Relationship As A Neutron Alarm Metric In Mobile Radiation Search Systems, Jackson N. Wagner, Craig Marianno

International Journal of Nuclear Security

A mobile radiological search system (MRSS) is frequently used in nuclear security to interdict illicit nuclear material. One difficulty an MRSS faces is in characterizing its detectors’ background responses, particularly in its neutron counter(s). This difficulty adds complications to identifying the presence of neutron-emitting radiological materials during an operation. Fortunately, previous work has identified a power law relationship between muons registered by the MRSS’s gamma detectors and background neutrons. This relationship can be applied to estimate the MRSS’s background neutron count rate using that muon count rate. To test the usability of such an estimate, an MRSS was used to …


Parking Garage Measurements Indicating A Gamma Spectrometer-Neutron Counter Background Correlation, Jackson N. Wagner, Craig Marianno, Thomas Mccullough Jul 2020

Parking Garage Measurements Indicating A Gamma Spectrometer-Neutron Counter Background Correlation, Jackson N. Wagner, Craig Marianno, Thomas Mccullough

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Gamma spectroscopy and gross neutron counting systems are commonly employed together during nuclear security operations, particularly mobile searches. The data from these systems are typically analyzed independently; however, operational data suggest a relationship between the background signals from both systems. This relationship appears to occur between the neutron count rate and the high energy (greater than 3 MeV) gamma spectrometer count rate for background conditions. To verify the presence of this correlation, high energy gamma ray and neutron count rates were measured in five parking garages on the Texas A&M University campus. These measurements employed one 4” x 4” x …