Abstract
We present a non-destructive method (NDM) to identify minute quantities of high atomic number (Z) elements in containers such as passenger baggage, goods carrying transport trucks, and environmental samples. This method relies on the fact that photon attenuation varies with its energy and properties of the absorbing medium. Low-energy gamma-ray intensity loss is sensitive to the atomic number of the absorbing medium, while that of higher-energies vary with the density of the medium. To verify the usefulness of this feature for NDM, we carried out simultaneous measurements of intensities of multiple gamma rays of energies 81 to 1408 keV emitted by sources 133Ba (half-life = 10.55 y) and 152Eu (half-life = 13.52 y). By this arrangement, we could detect minute quantities of lead and copper in a bulk medium from energy dependent gamma-ray attenuations. It seems that this method will offer a reliable, low-cost, low-maintenance alternative to X-ray or accelerator-based techniques for the NDM of high-Z materials such as mercury, lead, uranium, and transuranic elements etc.
Highlights
Contaminations of high atomic number (Z) materials are of concern for both security and health reasons [1] [2]
We present a non-destructive method (NDM) to identify minute quantities of high atomic number (Z) elements in containers such as passenger baggage, goods carrying transport trucks, and environmental samples
We suggest that multi-energy gamma-ray tomography, making use of photon emissions of radioactive isotopes of a few years of half-life, offers a promising tool
Summary
Contaminations of high atomic number (Z) materials are of concern for both security and health reasons [1] [2]. Rangacharyulu rently, nuclear detection techniques mostly involve the use of X-ray beams of a few hundred keV, while high-energy gamma rays, or neutron beams from particle accelerators are considered as candidate tools [1] [2]. The latter technologies involve high-energy accelerators requiring high maintenance, large real estate, and the associated high costs of infrastructure and operations. It should be noted that the mass attenuation coefficient μρ is specific to the atomic number of the medium and the photon energy It does not depend on the density nor on the physical state (solid, liquid or gas) of the medium.
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