• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권3호
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• pp.1009-1014
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• 2023

Muon tomography is a useful method for monitoring special nuclear materials (SNMs) such as spent nuclear fuel inside dry cask storage. Multiple Coulomb scattering of muons can be used to provide information about the 3-dimensional structure and atomic number(Z) of the inner materials. Tomography using muons is less affected by the shielding material and less harmful to health than other measurement methods. We developed a muon detector for muon tomography, which consists of a plastic scintillator, 64 long wavelength-shifting (WLS) fibers attached to the top of the plastic scintillator, and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) connected to both ends of each WLS fiber. The muon detector can acquire X and Y positions simultaneously using a position determination algorithm. The design parameters of the muon detector were optimized using DETECT2000 and Geant4 simulations, and a muon detector prototype was built based on the results. Spatial resolution measurement was performed using simulations and experiments to evaluate the feasibility of the muon detector. The experimental results were in good agreement with the simulation results. The muon detector has been confirmed for use in a muon tomography system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권2호
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• pp.601-607
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• 2022

In recent years, monitoring of spent nuclear fuel inside dry cask storage has become an important area of national security. Muon tomography is a useful method for monitoring spent nuclear fuel because it uses high energy muons that penetrate deep into the target material and provides a 3-D structure of the inner materials. We designed a muon tomography system consisting of four 2-D position sensitive detector and characterized and optimized the system parameters. Each detector, measuring 200 × 200 cm², consists of a plastic scintillator, wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers and, SiPMs. The reconstructed image is obtained by extracting the intersection of the incoming and outgoing muon tracks using a Point-of-Closest-Approach (PoCA) algorithm. The Geant4 simulation was used to evaluate the performance of the muon tomography system and to optimize the design parameters including the pixel size of the muon detector, the field of view (FOV), and the distance between detectors. Based on the optimized design parameters, the spent fuel assemblies were modeled and the line profile was analyzed to conduct a feasibility study. Line profile analysis confirmed that muon tomography system can monitor nuclear spent fuel in dry storage container.

• 한국지반공학회논문집
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• 제38권11호
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• pp.137-147
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• 2022

지하시설물의 정확한 매설위치를 파악하기 위해 다양한 지구물리탐사방법이 사용되고 있고, 정확도를 개선하기 위해 다수의 연구가 진행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 우주선 뮤온이라는 입자를 활용하여 새로운 개념의 탐사 방법을 통해 지하매설물 탐사 가능성을 분석하였다. 신틸레이터(scintillator)와 광증배관(silicon photomultiplier)을 조합하여 소형 뮤온 검출기 시작품을 제작하고, 뮤온 입자 계수에 대한 보정 작업을 수행하였다. 시작품을 활용하여 모형 토조의 지반두께를 측정하였으며, 실측값과 약 3%의 오차로 실측값에 가까운 값을 추정할 수 있었다. 또한 뮤온 검출기를 지하매설물 탐사용으로 활용하기 위해 토모그래피 해석기술에 대한 이론적 기반을 분석하고, 천정각(zenith angle) 보정 방법을 제시하였다. 연구 결과 뮤온 입자에 의한 탐사는 밀도 그 자체를 고해상도로 해석하는 것이 가능한 기술로써 지하매설물 탐사를 위해 활용 가능할 것으로 판단된다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권1호
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• pp.208-215
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• 2021

Cosmic-ray muon scattering tomography (MST) technology is a new radiation imaging technology with unique advantages. As the performance of its image reconstruction algorithm has a crucial influence on the imaging quality, researches on this algorithm are of great significance to the development and application of this technology. In this paper, a fast inspection algorithm based on clustering analysis for the identification of the existence of nuclear materials is studied and optimized. Firstly, the principles of MST technology and a binned clustering algorithm were introduced, and then several simulation experiments were carried out using Geant4 toolkit to test the effects of exposure time, algorithm parameter, the size and structure of object on the performance of the algorithm. Based on these, we proposed two optimization methods for the clustering algorithm: the optimization of vertical distance coefficient and the displacement of sub-volumes. Finally, several sets of experiments were designed to validate the optimization effect, and the results showed that these two optimization methods could significantly enhance the distinguishing ability of the algorithm for different materials, help to obtain more details in practical applications, and was therefore of great importance to the development and application of the MST technology.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권2호
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• pp.681-689
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• 2023

Purpose: Muons are characterized by a strong penetrating ability and can travel through thousands of meters of rock, making them ideal to image large volumes and substances typically impenetrable to, for example, electrons and photons. The feasibility of 3D image reconstruction and material identification based on a cosmic ray muons tomography (MT) system with triangular bar plastic scintillator detectors has been verified in this paper. Our prototype shows potential application value and the authors wish to apply this prototype system to 3D imaging. In addition, an MT experiment with the same detector system is also in progress. Methods: A simulation based on GEANT4 was developed to study cosmic ray muons' physical processes and motion trails. The yield and transportation of optical photons scintillated in each triangular bar of the detector system were reproduced. An image reconstruction algorithm and correction method based on muon scattering, which differs from the conventional PoCA algorithm, has been developed based on simulation data and verified by experimental data. Results: According to the simulation result, the detector system's position resolution is below 1 ~ mm in simulation and 2 mm in the experiment. A relatively legible 3D image of lead bricks in size of 20 cm × 5 cm × 10 cm used our inversion algorithm can be presented below 1× 10⁴ effective events, which takes 16 h of acquisition time experimentally. Conclusion: The proposed method is a potential candidate to monitor the cosmic ray MT accurately. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to discuss the application of the detector and the simulation results have indicated that the detector can be used in cosmic ray MT. The cosmic ray MT experiment is currently underway. Furthermore, the proposal also has the potential to scan the earth, buildings, and other structures of interest including for instance computerized imaging in an archaeological framework.