High-resolution imaging of nuclear waste containers with muon scattering tomography

Abstract

A method was developed to determine the edge position of uranium blocks embedded in concrete, using Muon Scattering Tomography. This method is useful for nuclear waste management, as it provides a precise image of high-Z materials inside nuclear waste drums. Simulations were performed of uranium blocks with different sizes, encased in a concrete tube, and their lengths were reconstructed. The resolution obtained for the reconstructed lengths was 2.9 ± 0.5 mm and the method works down to a smallest size of 5 mm. This result was obtained without including the muon momentum. The same method was then applied including the momentum information, resulting in a better resolution of 0.96 ± 0.03 mm, and works down to a smallest size of 2 mm. K : Analysis and statistical methods; Search for radioactive and fissile materials 1Corresponding author.

Material identification in nuclear waste drums using muon scattering tomography and multivariate analysis

“…Previous applications of machine learning techniques to MST imaging have demonstrated methods for distinguishing between drums containing uranium and lead blocks [3] and for reconstructing the size of uranium blocks [4]. Our system builds on these through the ability to isolate and identify multiple distinct bodies of different materials and sizes in a waste drum.…”

Effect of passive metallic layers on muon energy estimation by means of deflection angle for muon scattering tomography: A comparative study based on GEANT4 simulations

“…Among the detection modules existing in the tomographic setups based on the muon scattering are the plastic scintillators that have substantially found their application by accentuating their favorable aspects like fast rise and decay times, high optical transmission, ease of manufacturing, low cost, and large available size [4]. The hodoscope structure for the scattering-based tomography consists of two sections that are installed atop and beneath the VOI under the investigation [5], and each section is composed of two or more distinct detector layers [6,7] occasionally made out of plastic scintillators usually with a moderate thickness. In the course of the muon propagation through the detection system, the hodoscope components slightly contribute to the deviation of the transversing muons up to a certain extent, and this tiny contribution might serve to categorize the detected muons by building a binary relation between the deflection angle and the muon energy [8] especially in the regular cases where the tomographic configuration is inherently incapable of directly measuring the kinetic energy.…”