Method And Apparatus For Probing Nuclear Material By Photofission
First Claim
1. A method of probing an article containing potentially radiation-emitting elements, in which said article is irradiated by means of a beam of particles having sufficient energy to cause photofission of radiation-emitting elements of the article, and the neutrons produced by photofission are measured by means of at least one neutron detector, wherein said particles are electrons irradiating the article directly, and wherein the conversion of electrons into photons suitable for generating photofission is performed directly by the article to be probed.
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method and a system for using photofission to probe an article containing potentially radiation-emitting elements. The article is bombarded by a beam of electrons of sufficient energy, and they are converted into photons by bremsstrahlung directly within the article to be probed, which article is likely to contain photofissile material. No target is added to the package to perform this conversion. Preferably, the article to be probed is a package of radioactive waste, in which the container is made of thick absorbent concrete.
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22 Claims
- 1. A method of probing an article containing potentially radiation-emitting elements, in which said article is irradiated by means of a beam of particles having sufficient energy to cause photofission of radiation-emitting elements of the article, and the neutrons produced by photofission are measured by means of at least one neutron detector, wherein said particles are electrons irradiating the article directly, and wherein the conversion of electrons into photons suitable for generating photofission is performed directly by the article to be probed.
- 13. Apparatus for probing an article containing radiation-emitting elements, the apparatus comprising means for irradiating said article by means of a beam of particles of energy that is sufficient to cause photofission of the radiation-emitting elements of the article, and at least one neutron detector for measuring the neutrons produced by photofission, wherein said particles are electrons directly irradiating the nuclear material, the conversion of electrons into photons suitable for generating photofission being performed directly by the article to be probed.
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