Drone-based neutron backscatter inspection system

An apparatus for inspection of a target asset comprising:

• a drone including:
• a body;
• one or more propellers coupled to the body that enable the drone to fly;
• and
• an electronic control unit having a hardware processor, the electronic control unit coupled to or positioned within the body of the drone and coupled to the one or more propellers;
• a neutron emission source coupled to the body of the drone, communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit, and arranged to radiate neutrons exteriorly toward the target asset;
• and
• a neutron detector coupled to the body of the drone and also communicatively coupled to the electronic control unit;
• wherein the electronic control unit is configured by code executing in the processor to control navigation of the drone to reach the target asset, to activate the neutron emission source to radiate neutrons onto the asset and to gather data from the neutron detector which detects neutrons backscattered from the asset, indicative of a state of the asset and materials contained within the asset.