Muon tomography effectiveness in detecting orphan sources in scrap metal

The detection of sealed orphan sources inside scrap metal trans- portation is a crucial concern for the steel industry, because an accidental melting of radioactive material can produce severe environmental harm. The technique of muon tomography appears to be suitable for this purpose, because it allows to discriminate high-Z materials, measuring multiple scattering of cosmic ray muons crossing the cargo. A European project (RFSR-CT-2010-000033) to exploit this technique started in 2010 and finished in 2012. The aim of the project was to de- sign an inspection portal able to detect lead-shielded radioactive sources hidden in scrap metal containers using cosmic rays. The reconstruction algorithms and their performances were studied in a full simulated environment