PINS Measurements of Explosive Simulants for Cargo Screening

As part of its efforts to prevent the introduction of explosive threats on commercial flights, the Transportation Security Administration (TSL) is evaluating new explosives detection systems (EDSs) for use in air cargo inspection. The TSL has contracted Battelle to develop a new type of explosives simulant to assist in this development. These are designed to mimic the elemental profile (C, H, N, O, etc.) of explosives as well as their densities. Several “neutron in—gamma out” (n,?) techniques have been considered to quantify the elemental profile in these new simulants and the respective explosives. The method chosen by Battelle is Portable Isotopic Neutron Spectroscopy (PINS), developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Battelle wishes to validate that the simulants behave like the explosive threats with this technology. The results of the validation measurements are presented in this report