Monte Carlo Simulation of 238U Detection Limits (2010)

Undergraduate: Ben Ryan

Faculty Advisor: Hugon Karwowski
Department: Physics & Astronomy

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Sophisticated detection methods are required to efficiently screen the immense volume of containers imported into the United States for the presence of nuclear materials. The viability of a method of current interest, detection of characteristic nuclear resonance fluorescence lines, is examined. Similarly to atoms, nuclei fluoresce when they are excited by incident photons of appropriate energy, emitting gamma radiation unique to each nuclear species. Monte Carlo simulations of the energy spectrum incident on the face of a detector were performed for gamma rays encountering a modest volume of 238U inside a shipping container using the Geant4 toolkit. The feasibility of detecting the 3093, 3820 and 3986 keV lines is described.