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Fast neutron radiographic performance of a small bismuth-loaded PVT array

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Abstract

Some novel plastic scintillators offer substantial improvements for low-cost, portable, and durable dual-particle imaging (DPI) systems supporting nuclear safety, security, and safeguards purposes. In this work, a 21% bismuth-loaded polyvinyl toluene (BiPVT) was computationally and experimentally evaluated as a small, pixelated radiographic array and compared to same-sized arrays made from EJ-200 and EJ-256 in a 14.1 MeV neutron environment. Measurements were recorded using a digital radiographic panel, and computational models leveraged MCNP6.2 and OpticStudio software. The experimental results demonstrate the evaluated BiPVT outperforms EJ-256; however, this particular BiPVT array did not match the performance of EJ-200 in the fast neutron environment. Nevertheless, these findings, combined with those of previously published studies, suggest that portable DPI systems utilizing BiPVT may offer superior performance over more traditional material alternatives.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the U.S. Army and the Department of Energy, including awards DE-NA0003180 and DE-NA0000979, for supporting this NSSC affiliated research. The authors also thank Dr. Dan Shedlock and Varex Imaging for the use of a Varex Industrial PaxScan® 1515DXT-I flat panel detector, and Dr. Keith Vaigneur at Agile Technologies for his assistance and supervision in the fabrication of the evaluated arrays. This work was supported by the US DOE NA-22 DNN, and the LLNL portion was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Physics, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, 45433, USA

    Andrew W. Decker

  2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, 94551, USA

    Nerine J. Cherepy & Saphon Hok

  3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA

    Paul A. Hausladen

  4. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA

    Cordell J. Delzer

  5. Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Jason P. Hayward

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  1. Andrew W. Decker
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  2. Nerine J. Cherepy
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  3. Saphon Hok
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  4. Paul A. Hausladen
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  5. Cordell J. Delzer
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  6. Jason P. Hayward
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Correspondence to Andrew W. Decker.

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Decker, A.W., Cherepy, N.J., Hok, S. et al. Fast neutron radiographic performance of a small bismuth-loaded PVT array. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 4347–4359 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08469-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08469-w

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