A simple and low-cost directional detection technique for radiation source localization for nuclear security applications

One of the goals in the field of nuclear security is to prevent the misuse and loss of nuclear or other radiological materials. If lost or stolen, radioactive materials could be located and secured using radiation detectors like count rate meters or imaging systems. However, such detectors may not allow for the swift localization of lost sources or may be cost prohibitive in many measurement scenarios. A simple, low-cost, directional radiation detector that is capable of quickly “pointing” towards the nearest radiation source is sought for source search scenarios. Such a detector can be realized using a plastic scintillator couple on each end to photo-multiplier tubes, as shown in this work. The event-by-event position of scintillation in this study is approximated by averaging the amount of light arriving at each of the photomultiplier tubes during coincidence counting. The detector system is then rotated so that the approximated scintillation positions within the detector volume can be determined in other spatial dimensions. A guess vector generated by comparing light ratio skewness produced by the detector in orthogonal orientations points in the direction of a nearby radiation source. An MCNPX-PoliMi model was used to guide the design of such a detector and validate the guess-vector technique. A prototype system using a cube of an EJ-204 plastic scintillator and two photomultiplier tubes was constructed and a correlation between azimuthal source position and detector response was established. For measurements of tens of thousands of counts, the detector prototype generates guess vectors that can identify source position to within 5° uncertainty. The detector prototype can determine the general direction of a nearby source to within 45° uncertainty using 1000 total counts.