Applications of Compton imaging in nuclear waste characterization and treaty verification

Abstract

Compton imaging systems have a number of advantages for characterization of nuclear waste, such as identifying hot spots in mixed waste in order to reduce the volume of high-level waste requiring extensive treatment or long-term storage, and imaging large objects or contaminated areas. Compton imaging also has potential applications for monitoring production, deployment, shipping and storage of nuclear warheads and components in the verification of treaties such as START I and II, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This article presents a brief historical perspective and discusses system design requirements and performance specifications for these applications. The advantages of Compton imaging are compared to competing imaging technologies.