Detecting Special Nuclear Material Using Muon-Induced Neutron Emission

Abstract

The penetrating ability of cosmic ray muons makes them an attractive probe for imaging dense materials. Here, we describe experimental results from a new technique that uses neutrons generated by cosmic-ray muons to identify the presence of special nuclear material (SNM). Neutrons emitted from SNM are used to tag muon-induced fission events in actinides and laminography is used to form images of the stopping material. This technique allows the imaging of SNM-bearing objects tagged using muon tracking detectors located above or to the side of the objects, and may have potential applications in warhead verification scenarios. During the experiment described here we did not attempt to distinguish the type or grade of the SNM.