Neutron Radiography at Lucas Heights

Abstract

The development and progress of neutron radiography at the Australian Atomic Energy Commission is described for the period 1972 to the present. The early work involved standardisation of sensitometric data for the indium transfer-foil techniques. The superiority of direct methods using gadolinium converter screens was recognised, and subsequent work was carried out using this process of imaging the neutron beam. More recently, the use of fluorescent intensifier screens has been investigated.

Successful applications, in terms of regular and routine service work, have been limited to projects in the aircraft industry. Specific problems have been solved in the explosives, electronics and nuclear industries, and a successful research program involving the monitoring of in vivo plant root growth has been supported. Although the AAEC offers a routine commercial service in neutron radiography, the logistics of using an immobile reactor neutron source to solve problems in non-nuclear related fields remains a barrier to many potential Australian users of neutron radiography.