Active Interrogation of Materials Through Analysis of Resultant Neutrons (2010)

Undergraduates: Michael Jones, John Hardin none

Faculty Advisor: Hugon Karwowski
Department: Physics & Astronomy

---

Monte Carlo simulations of reactions producing neutrons in various materials, and the expected properties of such neutrons are presented. The simulations are performed using the hadronic physics lists of the Geant4 library, which included the (gamma,n) reaction, (gamma,2n) reaction, fission, and other hadronic processes. Three materials are examined: C-12, Fe-56, and U-238. Techniques based on high to low energy count ratios for differentiating the materials based on the neutron energy spectra (with and without shielding) are then discussed. Both a gamma ray and a neutron source are simulated as used in this kind of materials interrogation.