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A well-type phoswich detector for nuclear explosion monitoring

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Abstract

In this work, a well-type phoswich detector with three scintillation layers has been designed and tested for measuring atmospheric xenon radioisotopes in order to monitor nuclear explosions. The detector was made by optically coupling three concentric cylindrical scintillation layers (BC-400, CsI(Tl) and BGO) to a single photomultiplier tube. Beta-gamma coincidence technique was used to detect beta particles and gamma rays. Other important features of this detector are its Compton suppression capability and simple, compact and cost effective design. Our calculations and measurements with the well-type phoswich detector show that the minimum detectable concentrations are close to or below 1 mBq/m3 for the four xenon radioisotopes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration under Award No. DE-AC52-09NA29324. The authors would like to thank A. Alhawsawi from Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health physics and S. Smith from the Radiation Center of the Oregon State University for their contributions to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    B. Alemayehu, A. T. Farsoni, L. Ranjbar & E. M. Becker

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  1. B. Alemayehu
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  2. A. T. Farsoni
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  3. L. Ranjbar
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  4. E. M. Becker
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Correspondence to B. Alemayehu.

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Alemayehu, B., Farsoni, A.T., Ranjbar, L. et al. A well-type phoswich detector for nuclear explosion monitoring. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 301, 323–332 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3182-2

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