Gamma-ray imaging system for real-time measurements in nuclear waste characterisation

TL;DR

This paper presents a portable gamma-ray imaging system capable of real-time identification, localization, and quantification of radioactive isotopes in nuclear waste, suitable for field applications like nuclear decommissioning.

Contribution

It introduces a compact, large field-of-view gamma camera with spectroscopic and imaging capabilities for nuclear waste characterization in real-time.

Findings

System successfully identifies gamma emitters in field tests.

Performance benchmarks show advantages over conventional techniques.

Device enables real-time nuclear waste monitoring.

Abstract

A compact, portable and large field-of-view gamma camera to identify, locate and quantify gamma-ray emitting radioisotopes in real-time has been developed. The device delivers spectroscopic and imaging capabilities, which allow one to use it in a variety of nuclear waste characterisation scenarios, such as radioactivity monitoring in nuclear power plants and more specifically for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The technical development of this apparatus and some examples of its application in field measurements are reported in this article. The performance of the presented gamma-camera is also benchmarked against other conventional techniques.