Plutonium metal vs. oxide determination with the pulse-shape-discrimination-capable plastic scintillator EJ-299-33

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 767; no. C; pp. 188 - 192
• Main Authors: Pozzi, S.A., Bourne, M.M., Dolan, J.L., Polack, K., Lawrence, C., Flaska, M., Clarke, S.D., Tomanin, A., Peerani, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier B.V 11.12.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Accelerators; Detectors; EJ-299-33; Liquids; Metal vs. oxide; Neutron detector; NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; Oxides; Plastic scintillator; Plutonium; Polymers; Pulse height; Pulse shape; Neutron detector; Metal vs. oxide; EJ-299-33; Plutonium; Plastic scintillator
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2014.08.002

Neutron measurements can be used to distinguish plutonium in metal or oxide form, a capability that is of great interest in nuclear nonproliferation, treaty verification, and other applications. This paper describes measurements performed on well-characterized samples of plutonium oxide and plutonium metal using the pulse-shape-discrimination-capable plastic scintillator EJ-299-33. Results are compared to those obtained with a same-sized detector cell using the liquid scintillator EJ-309. The same optimized, digital pulse shape discrimination technique is applied to both detectors and the neutron pulse height distributions are compared. Results show that the EJ-299-33 plastics can be successfully used for plutonium measurements, where the gamma ray to neutron detection ratio is much higher than for typical radioactive sources. Results also show that EJ-299-33 detectors can be used to characterize plutonium samples, specifically to discriminate between plutonium metal and oxide.