Determination of Radionuclide Depth Distribution by Collimated Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy

65584 To meet regulatory and personnel health needs, the Department of Energy (DOE) must monitor radioactive isotopes to determine real-time activity levels over long periods of time. Improvements in sensitivity over current detection systems are required to meet present and future regulatory and inspection needs. This project will develop an instrument that will improve detection sensitivity, increase the effective detector coverage area, and provide image spatial distribution of a variety of low beta activity sources. The system, based on a recently developed high gain, low noise linear Avalanche Photodiode (APD) array, will be designed to work remotely in combination with a particle collection system for monitoring air quality or as a hand-held device for monitoring and imaging contaminated surfaces. Phase I will demonstrate a capability to produce an APD array for the high sensitivity detection of tritium. An electronic readout will be built and the complete device will be characterized and tested Commercial Applications And Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Applications for the detector include environmental surveillance at DOE facilities, medical and drug discovery, fluorescence imaging, and LIDAR and LADAR imaging and spectroscopy.