DEVELOPMENT OF AIRBORNE NUCLEAR RADIATION DETECTOR

A STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED OF A CONCEPT FOR A COMPACT AIRBORNE DETECTOR OF XAND -GAMMA RADIATION THAT WILL RAPIDLY MEASURE AIRBORNE RADIOACTIVE CONCENTRATIONS AND FALLOUT DEPOSITS ON THE GROUND, FROM NATURAL BACKGROUND LEVELS TO INTENSITIES AT LEAST FIVE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE GREATER THAN BACKGROUND. COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE INTERVENING ATMOSHERE WILL BE RUN. LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS WILL ANALYZE THE SENSITIVITY OF, AND OPTIMIZE THE COMPOSITION AND ENERGY RESOLUTION PARAMETERS OF, A COLLIMATED MOSAIC OF MANY SMALL, INDEPENDENT, HIGH DENSITY, HIGH-ATOMIC-NUMBER, INORGANIC SCINTILLATION COUNTERS. THE MOSAIC'S COLLIMATOR AND A PASSIVE COLLIMATOR CONSTRUCTED FROM LEAD BLOCKS. THE STUDY WILL ALSO OPTIMIZE THE DIMENSIONS OF, AND SPATIAL RESOLUTION OBTAINED WITH, A PERFORATED LEAD MASK THAT COVERS THE COLLIMATOR'S APERTURE. THE PERFORMATION PATTERN ACTS TO CODE THE APERTURE, THEREBY IMPARTING A GAMMA RAY IMAGING CAPABILITY WITHIN THE FIELD OF VIEW. THERE WILL ADDITIONALLY BE STUDY OF THE FUNCTIONAL, POWER, WEIGHT, AND COOLING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE NECESSARY MICROPROCESSOR CONTROLLED ELECTRONICS.