Portable/mobile fissible material detector and methods for making and using same
OwnerWei-Kan Chu, Jia-Rui Liuinventors
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Abstract
A portable and/or mobile detector for highly enriched uranium (HEU) and weapon grade plutonium (WGPu) is disclosed the detects HEU and/or WGPu based on neutron induced fission of a portion of the HEU and/or WGPu and detecting delayed neutron and/or γ-rays emission from delayed neutron emitters formed from the induced fission reactions.
Claims30
A field ionization ion source apparatus comprising a nano-material emitter including a nano-material film having a plurality of metal tips, where the emitter emits up to several mA/cm2 of an ion current.
A mobile detector apparatus for fissile materials comprising:
- a portable high yield neutron generator comprising a field ionization ion source comprising a nano-material emitter, where the generator has a neutron yield up to 1011 n/sec at a voltage to 100 KeV, and
- a neutron and/or γ-ray detector adapted to detect delayed neutrons and/or γ-rays generated by a fissile material upon irradiation by a neutron flux generated from the portable high yield neutron generator.
A system for detecting fissile materials comprising:
- a mobile transport vehicle,
- a neutron generator disposed on the vehicle, where the generator comprises a metal tipped nano-material emitter including a nano-material film having a plurality of metal tips, and where the generator has a neutron yield up to 10″ n/sec at a voltage to 100 KeV, a neutron and/or γ-ray detector disposed on the vehicle and adapted to detect delayed neutrons and/or γ-rays generated by a fissile material in an object of interest upon irradiation by a neutron flux generated from the neutron generator, and a command subsystem disposed on the vehicle and including:
- an analyzer adapted to analyze an output of the detector to determine the nature of the detected neutrons and/or γ-rays by the object, and
- a processing unit adapted to collect, store, analyze data from the analyzer, to communicate the data to a command center, to receive commands relating to object identification, testing, and to implement emergency protocols if a fissile material is detected in the object of interest.
A method comprising the steps of:
- directing a collimated beam of fast and/or thermal neutrons at an object to be inspected causing fission reactions of any highly enriched uranium (HEU) and/or weapon grade plutonium (WGPu);
- detecting delayed neutrons and/or γ-rays emitted by the fission reactions;
- and
- determining whether highly enriched uranium (HEU) and/or weapon grade plutonium (WGPu) is present in the object.
(canceled)
A method for detection of fissile materials comprising the steps of:
- providing a neutron generator comprising a nano-material emitter including a nano-material film having a plurality of metal tips, where the emitter emits up to several mA/cm2 of an ion current;
- generating a neutron flux and directing the flux at an object to be analyzed;
- detecting neutrons and/or γ-rays generated by the object;
- analyzing the neutron and/or γ-ray to determine whether the emission profile is consistent with a fissile material;
- and
- notifying appropriate authorities if a fissile material is detected.
A method for implementing a network of mobile fissile material detection station comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of mobile fissile detection stations, each station including:
- a neutron generator of comprising a nano-material emitter including a nano-material film having a plurality of metal tips, where the emitter emits up to several mA/cm2 of an ion current;
- a neutron and/or γ-ray detector;
- an analyzer to analyze the detected neutrons and/or γ-rays;
- distributing the mobile units through an area or a volume, where the area or volume is selected from the group consisting of a land area, a sea area, a sea volume, an areal volume or a mixture thereof;
- for each station, generating a neutron flux and directing the flux at an object to be analyzed and detecting neutrons and/or γ-rays generated by a fissile material;
- for each station, analyzing the neutrons and/or γ-rays to determine whether the emission profile is consistent with a fissile material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.