Development of nuclear security technologies for a large public event (Collaboration research)

Takahashi, Tone; Mochimaru, Takanori*; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Yoshimi, Yuki*; Yamanishi, Hirokuni*; Wakabayashi, Genichiro*; Ito, Fumiaki*

JAEA-Review 2025-039, 34 Pages, 2025/11

JAEA-Review-2025-039.pdf:2.18MB

To prevent acts of terrorism involving nuclear or radioactive materials at major public events, it is required to have surveillance technologies that either prevent these materials from being brought in or detect quickly if somebody brings them in secretly. Setting radiation gate monitors to survey pedestrians and vehicles is one of the effective methods. However, considering the possibility of individuals bypassing these monitors, complementary technologies are needed to continuously survey areas inside the gates. To survey extensive areas, radiation mapping is effective. By using multiple detectors and aggregating the data, the survey becomes much more efficient. We have developed mobile detectors capable of simultaneously measuring location data and radiation levels outdoors, with the ability to aggregate measurement results via a network and immediately visualize them on a map. For indoor environments, we have developed a technology that integrates radiation measurement results with environmental mapping created using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) to produce 3D maps of the surveyed areas. Additionally, we have been working on the development of a source search technology using a fast neutron detector to quickly detect neutron sources, including nuclear materials. In this report, we describe a concept of the wide area survey system and report technology development results so far.

Demonstration of shape analysis of neutron resonance transmission spectrum measured with a laser-driven neutron source

Koizumi, Mitsuo; Ito, Fumiaki*; Lee, J.; Hironaka, Kota; Takahashi, Tone; Suzuki, Satoshi*; Arikawa, Yasunobu*; Abe, Yuki*; Lan, Z.*; Wei, T.*; et al.

Scientific Reports (Internet), 14, p.21916_1 - 21916_9, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72836-8

Relationship between neutron moderator and time-dependent background for neutron time-of-flight measurement

Lee, J.; Hironaka, Kota; Ito, Fumiaki*; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Hori, Junichi*; Sano, Tadafumi*

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 61(1), p.23 - 30, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2023.2224330

Laser-driven neutron generation realizing single-shot resonance spectroscopy

Yogo, Akifumi*; Lan, Z.*; Arikawa, Yasunobu*; Abe, Yuki*; Mirfayzi, S. R.*; Wei, T.*; Mori, Takato*; Golovin, D.*; Hayakawa, Takehito*; Iwata, Natsumi*; et al.

Physical Review X, 13(1), p.011011_1 - 011011_12, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.13.011011

Designs and neutronic characteristics of an epithermal neutron moderator at ambient temperature for neutron time-of-flight measurements

Lee, J.; Ito, Fumiaki*; Hironaka, Kota; Takahashi, Tone; Suzuki, Satoshi*; Koizumi, Mitsuo

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(12), p.1546 - 1557, 2022/12

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2077259

Development of a neutron scintillator for a compact NRTA system, 2

Lee, J.; Hironaka, Kota; Ito, Fumiaki*; Takahashi, Tone; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Hori, Junichi*; Terada, Kazushi*

KURNS Progress Report 2021, P. 97, 2022/07

https://www.rri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/PUB/report/PR/ProgRep2021/ProgressReport2021_online.pdf

no abstracts in English

Development of a neutron sintillator for a compact NRTA system

Ito, Fumiaki*; Lee, J.; Hironaka, Kota; Takahashi, Tone; Suzuki, Satoshi*; Hori, Junichi*; Terada, Kazushi*; Koizumi, Mitsuo

KURNS Progress Report 2020, P. 98, 2021/08

A compact Nuclear Resonance Transmission Analysis (NRTA) system using a Laser Driven Neutron Source (LDNS) has been developed as a part of the development of nuclear non-proliferation technology supported by the MEXT. In NRTA, the neutron energy emitted from a pulsed neutron source is measured using the time-of-flight (TOF) method. LDNS is of interest because of its short pulse width, which is necessary for accurate TOF measurements over short flight distances. In the short-distance TOF measurement, there will be a large gamma-ray background event due to the coincidence of the timing of the arrival of 2.2 MeV gamma-rays due to neutron capture on hydrogen in the moderator and the timing of the arrival of neutrons around the resonance energy. Since the LDNS is still under development, the neutron flux is not sufficient and it is desirable to use a detector with high detection efficiency. For these reasons, we have developed a detector with low efficiency to gamma-rays and high efficiency to neutrons (multilayer neutron detector). As one of the results of this year's experiments, we confirmed that the multilayer neutron detector have low sensitivity to gamma-rays.

中性子検出器

伊藤 史哲; Lee, J.; 弘中 浩太; 小泉 光生

not registered

JP, 2021-214537  Patent licensing information  Patent publication (In Japanese)

【課題】高いN/γ選択性で、高線量の中性子を高効率で測定できる中性子検出器を得る。 【解決手段】このシンチレータ10は、Z方向において、蛍光体層11と光透過層12とが交互に積層された積層構造を具備する。蛍光体層11は、中性子を吸収することによって蛍光を発する蛍光体で構成され、この材料は、例えば従来より知られる中性子検出用のシンチレータの材料である。光透過層12は、この蛍光体が発した蛍光の透過率が高く中性子の吸収が小さい材料で構成される。このシンチレータ10では、中性子、γ線光子が入射した場合に、発光強度(パルス波高)が、中性子とγ線光子とで大きく異なる。これによって、両者の出力の弁別を容易に行うことができる。

中性子検出器

伊藤 史哲; Lee, J.; 弘中 浩太; 小泉 光生

not registered

JP, 2214221  Patent licensing information

Development of a neutron resonance transmission analysis system using a laser driven neutron source

Hironaka, Kota; Lee, J.; Ito, Fumiaki*; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Takahashi, Tone; Suzuki, Satoshi*; Yogo, Akifumi*; Arikawa, Yasunobu*; Abe, Yuki*

no journal, , 

Neutron resonance transmission analysis (NRTA) is a method for non-destructive measurement of nuclear material by using a time-of-flight (TOF) technique with a pulsed neutron source. For NRTA system to carry out the short-distance TOF measurements with high resolutions, a short-pulsed neutron source is required. Laser-driven neutron sources (LDNSs) is very suitable as such a neutron source because of its short pulse width. Moreover, the compactness of the laser system is also expected due to the remarkable development of laser technology in recent years. In the present study, we have developed a technology for applying LDNS to the NRTA system and conducted the demonstration experiment using the LFEX laser at Osaka University to investigate the feasibility of the system. In this experiment, we successfully observed the neutron resonance peaks of indium and silver samples.