A Dual-Purpose Ion-Accelerator for Nuclear-Reaction-Based Explosives-and SNM-Detection in Massive Cargo

TL;DR

This paper proposes a dual-purpose ion-accelerator system for nuclear-reaction-based cargo inspection, capable of detecting small quantities of explosives and nuclear materials efficiently and cost-effectively in high-throughput scenarios.

Contribution

It introduces a versatile ion-accelerator design that can serve multiple detection modes with common hardware, enhancing cargo security screening.

Findings

System can inspect 10-20 containers per hour.

Uses nuclear reactions for sensitive detection of explosives and SNM.

Employs cost-effective, adaptable hardware.

Abstract

A dual-purpose ion-accelerator concept, capable of serving as radiation source in a versatile, nuclear-reaction-based cargo inspection system, is presented. The system will automatically and reliably detect small, operationally-relevant quantities of concealed explosives and special nuclear materials (SNM). It will be cost-effective, employing largely-common hardware, but different reactions/DAQ-modes. Typical expected throughput is 10-20 aviation containers/hr. PACS: 25.20.Dc; 25.40.Ny; 27.20.+n; 29.27.Fh; 79.77.+g; 89.20.Bb; 89.20.Dd Keywords: Cargo inspection; Nuclear-reaction-based methods; Explosives detection; SNM detection