Hazardous material canister systems and methods

A method for inspecting a weld of a nuclear waste canister, comprising:

• positioning a gamma ray image detector near a nuclear waste canister that encloses nuclear waste, the nuclear waste canister comprising a housing that comprises a volume in which the waste is enclosed and a cap connected to the housing with at least one weld to seal the nuclear waste in the nuclear waste canister;
• receiving, at the gamma ray image detector, gamma rays from the nuclear waste that travel from the nuclear waste, through a hole in a gamma ray shield that is positioned in the volume to hit a scatterer positioned above the shield, scattered toward the weld, and through one or more voids in the weld;
• generating an image of the received gamma rays with the gamma ray image detector;
• and
• based on the generated image, determining an integrity of the at least one weld.

A system for inspecting a weld of a nuclear waste canister, comprising:

• a nuclear waste canister that encloses nuclear waste, the nuclear waste canister comprising:
• a housing that comprises a volume configured to enclose the nuclear waste,
• a cap connected to the housing with at least one weld to seal the nuclear waste in the nuclear waste canister,
• a gamma ray shield that is positioned in the volume between the nuclear waste and the cap, and
• a scatterer positioned above the shield;
• and
• a gamma ray image detector system positionable adjacent the nuclear waste canister and configured to receive gamma rays from the nuclear waste that travel through a hole in the gamma ray shield to hit the scatterer to scatter toward the weld and travel through one or more voids in the weld, generate an image of the received gamma rays, and based on the generated image, determine an integrity of the at least one weld.