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

Andrew W. Decker; Nerine J. Cherepy; Saphon Hok; Paul A. Hausladen; Cordell J. Delzer; Jason P. Hayward

doi:10.1007/s10967-022-08469-w

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

Andrew W. Decker, Nerine J. Cherepy, Saphon Hok, Paul A. Hausladen, Cordell J. Delzer, Jason P. Hayward

Radiation Imaging and Advanced Diagnosti

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4347-4359
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Volume	331
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08469-w
State	Published - Oct 2022

Funding

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.

Funders	Funder number
US DOE NA-22 DNN
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-NA0003180, DE-NA0000979
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory	DE-AC52-07NA27344
U.S. Army

Keywords

Bismuth
Dual-particle imaging
High-Z loading
MCNP6.2
Neutron radiography
Plastic scintillator

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title = "Fast neutron radiographic performance of a small bismuth-loaded PVT array",

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.",

keywords = "Bismuth, Dual-particle imaging, High-Z loading, MCNP6.2, Neutron radiography, Plastic scintillator",

author = "Decker, {Andrew W.} and Cherepy, {Nerine J.} and Saphon Hok and Hausladen, {Paul A.} and Delzer, {Cordell J.} and Hayward, {Jason P.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.",

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doi = "10.1007/s10967-022-08469-w",

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AU - Hok, Saphon

AU - Hausladen, Paul A.

AU - Delzer, Cordell J.

AU - Hayward, Jason P.

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N2 - 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.

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

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Keywords

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