NMIS With Gamma Spectrometry for Attributes of Pu and HEU, Explosives and Chemical Agents

The concept for the system described herein is an active/passive Nuclear Materials Identification System{sup 2} (NMIS) that incorporates gamma ray spectrometry{sup 3}. This incorporation of gamma ray spectrometry would add existing capability into this system. This Multiple Attribute System can determine a wide variety of attributes for Pu and highly enriched uranium (HEU) of which a selected subset could be chosen. This system can be built using commercial off the shelf (COTS) components. NMIS systems are at All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) and Russian Federal Nuclear Center Institute of Technical Physics, (VNIITF) and measurements with Pu have been performed at VNIIEF and analyzed successfully for mass and thickness of Pu. NMIS systems are being used successfully for HEU at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The use of active gamma ray spectrometry for high explosive HE and chemical agent detection is a well known activation analysis technique, and it is incorporated here. This report describes the system, explains the attribute determination methods for fissile materials, discusses technical issues to be resolved, discusses additional development needs, presents a schedule for building from COTS components, and assembly with existing components, and discusses implementation issues such as lack of need for facility modification and low radiation exposure