Passive and active correlation techniques for the detection of Nuclear Materials

In the frame of the French trans-governmental R&D program against CBRN-E threats, CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) is studying the detection of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) by neutron interrogation with the Associated Particle Technique (APT). Coincidences including at least 3 fission neutrons or gamma rays induced by tagged neutrons are used to detect and distinguish SNM from benign materials in which lower multiplicity events of 1 or 2 particles are produced by (n,2n) or (n,n'γ) reactions. Coincidence are detected by fast plastic scintillators and correlated with tagged neutrons to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Dedicated data acquisition electronics (DAQ) has been developed with independent FPGA cards associated to each detector, so that the acquisition window can be opened by any of the plastic scintillators. DAQ tests in passive mode are presented, in which acquisition is triggered by the sum signal of all detectors. The system time and energy calibration and resolution are reported, as well as the qualification of numerical simulations thanks to experimental data acquired with simple setups using a 252 Cf source. Numerical studies for the design and performance of cargo container inspection are also performed with the MCNP-PoliMi computer code and the ROOT data analysis package. SNM detection in iron cargo is quite straightforward but in organic matrix, data processing will need to combine more information to evidence SNM.