The DRAGoN (Drone for Radiation detection of Gammas and Neutrons) project aims to design and develop a detection system that is placed on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It represents an innovative solution for the detection and identification of radioactive materials in a specific area, thanks to the simultaneous detection and discrimination of gamma and neutrons (fast or thermal). In this work, a study and a full characterization of the detection system of the DRAGoN project are presented. In particular, it showed the characterization of the radioactivity counter mode of the detection system, with the plastic scintillator EJ-276 (size 3”x5”). The parameters studied for the characterization are the energy resolution, the time resolution, the gamma efficiency, the pulse shape discrimination between photon and neutrons, and finally, the dead time and the neutron detection response are determined when the system is under a high gamma rate. The last parameters are very important for the objective of the DRAGoN project, which is, identify SNM when the system is under a high gamma background. For a complete assessment of the characterization, Monte Carlos simulations were combined with the experimental results. Finally, the results obtained in the characterization suggest that the EJ-276 3”x5” detector perfectly suits the requirements of the DRAGoN project. Another challenging study carried out in this work was to test the PSD performance of different inorganic scintillators when they are coupled to a SiPM matrix. The replacement of a conventional PMT by a SiPM matrix in the DRAGoN project will guarantee compactness, lightness, and lower power consumption, increasing in that way the flight time of the UAV. From all the detectors tested, the small plastic scintillators with a SiPM matrix showed a complete discrimination, and with the large detectors a discrimination was visible but not a good result is achieved, nevertheless, it could be improved in the future using different experimental techniques.

Design and characterization of the neutron-gamma detection module of the DRAGON project

Delgado, Jessica
2021/2022

Abstract

The DRAGoN (Drone for Radiation detection of Gammas and Neutrons) project aims to design and develop a detection system that is placed on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It represents an innovative solution for the detection and identification of radioactive materials in a specific area, thanks to the simultaneous detection and discrimination of gamma and neutrons (fast or thermal). In this work, a study and a full characterization of the detection system of the DRAGoN project are presented. In particular, it showed the characterization of the radioactivity counter mode of the detection system, with the plastic scintillator EJ-276 (size 3”x5”). The parameters studied for the characterization are the energy resolution, the time resolution, the gamma efficiency, the pulse shape discrimination between photon and neutrons, and finally, the dead time and the neutron detection response are determined when the system is under a high gamma rate. The last parameters are very important for the objective of the DRAGoN project, which is, identify SNM when the system is under a high gamma background. For a complete assessment of the characterization, Monte Carlos simulations were combined with the experimental results. Finally, the results obtained in the characterization suggest that the EJ-276 3”x5” detector perfectly suits the requirements of the DRAGoN project. Another challenging study carried out in this work was to test the PSD performance of different inorganic scintillators when they are coupled to a SiPM matrix. The replacement of a conventional PMT by a SiPM matrix in the DRAGoN project will guarantee compactness, lightness, and lower power consumption, increasing in that way the flight time of the UAV. From all the detectors tested, the small plastic scintillators with a SiPM matrix showed a complete discrimination, and with the large detectors a discrimination was visible but not a good result is achieved, nevertheless, it could be improved in the future using different experimental techniques.
2021-09
53
gamma, neutrons, plastic scintillator, detection, radiation, SiPM, particle discrimination.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/21801