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Advanced Applications of Cosmic-Ray Muon Radiography." (2013)

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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Nuclear Engineering ETDs Engineering ETDs 9-5-2013 ADVANCED APPLICATIONS OF COSMIC- RAY MUON RADIOGRAPHY John Perry Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ne_etds Recommended Citation Perry, John. "ADVANCED APPLICATIONS OF COSMIC-RAY MUON RADIOGRAPHY." (2013). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ne_etds/4 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Engineering ETDs at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Nuclear Engineering ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. John Oliver Perry Candidate Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Adam A. Hecht, Chairperson Dr. Cassiano R. E. de Oliveira Dr. Sally Seidel Dr. Konstantin Borozdin i ADVANCED APPLICATIONS OF COSMIC-RAY MUON RADIOGRAPHY BY JOHN PERRY B.S., Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, 2007 M.S., Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, 2008 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Engineering The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2013 ii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my wife, Holly R. Perry. She has motivated me through my work selflessly and tirelessly. I struggle to think where I would be today without her. Holly has provided more emotional support throughout these past years than I could ever request. So, to her, thank you and I love you. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I graciously acknowledge my academic advisor, Dr. Adam A. Hecht, for providing me the opportunity for pursuing my PhD. Dr. Hecht has supported me through my work, education, and transition from academic institutions. I am also grateful for his flexibility in permitting me to pursue my higher education while working at a remote facility full time. To my mentor Dr. Konstantin Borozdin, I thank you for the many hours that you have invested on my behalf for both this work and many other pursuits that I’ve had thus far at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I am indebted to you for your constant commitment to improving my work and scientific career. Additionally, I acknowledge, tongue-in-cheek, your profound understanding of the English language, sans articulos et prolationis. To Dr. Oliveira and Dr. Seidel, I thank you for being involved in my dissertation committee. I appreciate the time you have taken out of your schedules so that I may take this next great step in my career! I want to thank my many colleagues including: Dr. Fesseha Mariam, Dr. Haruo Miyadera, Dr. Edward (Cas) Milner, Dr. Chris Morris, Jeff Bacon, and many others. This team of people, of which I belonged to, has guided and instructed me to the penultimate goal of my academic career. It is because of these types of people that LANL is a world class national laboratory. I acknowledge Dr. Alexei Klimenko. Dr. Klimenko brought me on to LANL as a post- masters/graduate research assistant and was instrumental in my success as a young scientist. I thank the many collaborators that I have worked with including: the University of New Mexico, National Security Technologies, and Decision Sciences Corporation. Finally, I would like to thank my colleague Joseph Fabritius II for assisting in proof-reading my dissertation as well as creating some figures that he allowed me to use. iv ADVANCED APPLICATIONS OF COSMIC-RAY MUON RADIOGRAPHY by John Oliver Perry B.S., Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, 2007 M.S., Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, 2008 Ph.D., Engineering, University of New Mexico, 2013 ABSTRACT The passage of cosmic-ray muons through matter is dominated by the Coulomb interaction with electrons and atomic nuclei. The muon’s interaction with electrons leads to continuous energy loss and stopping through the process of ionization. The muon’s interaction with nuclei leads to angular diffusion. If a muon stops in matter, other processes unfold, as discussed in more detail below. These interactions provide the basis for advanced applications of cosmic-ray muon radiography discussed here, specifically: 1) imaging a nuclear reactor with near horizontal muons, and 2) identifying materials through the analysis of radiation lengths weighted by density and secondary signals that are induced by cosmic-ray muon trajectories. We have imaged a nuclear reactor, type AGN-201m, at the University of New Mexico, using data measured with a particle tracker built from a set of sealed drift tubes, the Mini Muon Tracker (MMT). Geant4 simulations were compared to the data for verification and validation. In both the data and simulation, we can identify regions of interest in the reactor including the core, moderator, and shield. This study reinforces our claims for using muon tomography to image reactors following an accident. Warhead and special nuclear materials (SNM) imaging is an important thrust for treaty verification and national security purposes. The differentiation of SNM from other materials, such as iron and aluminum, is useful for these applications. Several techniques were developed for material identification using cosmic-ray muons. These techniques include: 1) identifying the radiation length weighted by density of an object and 2) measuring the signals that can indicate the presence of fission and chain reactions. By combining the radiographic images created by tracking muons through a target plane with the additional fission neutron and gamma signature, we are able to locate regions that are fissionable from a single side. The following materials were imaged with this technique: aluminum, concrete, steel, lead, and uranium. Provided that there is sufficient mass, U-235 could be differentiated from U-238 through muon induced fission. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................ix LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................... xxii PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................. xxiv CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1 The Author’s Role and this Dissertation ..................................................................................................... 4 Dissertation Outline ..................................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................................................... 7 History ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 21 Theoretical Overview ................................................................................................................................ 21 The Cosmic-Ray Muon Spectrum ............................................................................................................. 23 Muon Energy Loss .................................................................................................................................... 28 Multiple Coulomb Scattering .................................................................................................................... 31 Muon Induced Fission ............................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................................................. 35 Muon Tomography Instrumentation .......................................................................................................... 35 Mini Muon Tracker (MMT) ...................................................................................................................... 36 FPGA Frontend Electronics ...................................................................................................................... 41 Secondary Signal Detectors Overview ...................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER 5 .................................................................................................................................................. 45 Methodology of Research Overview ......................................................................................................... 45 vi The Reconstruction of Cosmic-Ray Muon Tracks .................................................................................... 47 Acquisition and Analysis of Data for Muon Tomography .......................................................................
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