High-Efficiency Long-Lifetime Neutron Generator For Radiographic Munitions and IED Inspection

Sealed-tube FNG sources have on-off capability and relatively small size; however, lifetime of these tubes at the desired output levels is short (a few hundred hours due to target degradation at high power), and thus have prohibitive operating cost. In order to become cost and mission effective, the US Army is specifically looking for the development of an advanced generator that can improve output efficiency and lifetime in a compact configuration. Starfire Industries is proposing an innovative FNG solution to address these engineering challenges. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will address the technical and commercial feasibility of an advanced, compact, high-flux fusion neutron generator (FNG) with higher conversion efficiency (>5×) and longer lifetime (>20×) compared to the current state-of-the-art for neutron radiography (NR) systems with fast image processing capability for the inspection of munitions, unexploded ordinance and IED detections, and other non-destructive evaluation (NDE) applications. Preliminary modeling and experiments have shown evidence of scientific feasibility of a novel approach for neutron source and illumination system design for reduced cost-of-ownership radiographic inspection and other NDE applications.