Moderation device design for detecting hidden highly enriched uranium based on D-T neutron generator

• Published in: Annals of nuclear energy Vol. 183; p. 109654
• Main Authors: Jiang, Shang-Rui, Shi, Guang-Yu, Chen, Si-Yuan, Jing, Shi-Wei, Liu, Chao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2023
• Subjects: D-T neutron generator; HEU; Monte Carlo method; Neutron flux; Neutron moderation device; Monte Carlo method; Neutron flux; HEU; Neutron moderation device; D-T neutron generator
• ISSN: 0306-4549; 1873-2100
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anucene.2022.109654

•The simulated neutron source is based on the NG-9 neutron generator made by Northeast Normal University.•A moderation device based on D-T neutron generator was designed for detecting hidden highly enriched uranium.•The device can detect HEU hidden in a variety of conventional cargo.•It can prevent source neutrons from interfering with the detection results by using this device to. Preventing the proliferation of highly enriched uranium (HEU) is an important issue all over the world. A neutron moderation device for detecting hidden HEU is designed based on a portable D-T neutron generator. The materials of each part of the moderation device are selected and the parameters are optimized to improve the moderating efficiency by Monte Carlo method. Compared with no moderation measures, the proportion of thermal neutron flux with moderation increased from 0.93% to 47.8%, and the proportion of epithermal neutron flux increased from 2.62% to 11.5%. The detection of HEU hidden in common cargo by using this device was then simulated, and the existence of HEU is determined by recording the difference of the neutron flux. In the simulation detection, a BC-501a liquid scintillation detector is used as neutron detector. The results show that the device with an optimized moderation system can detect the hidden HEU effectively.