A NEW SEMICONDUCTOR RADIATION SENSOR FOR EXPEDITED WASTE SITE CHARACTERIZATION

THE OVERALL GOAL IS TO DEVELOP LOW COST "SMART" SENSORS FOR HARD X-RAYS SUITABLE FOR USE WITH MINIMALLY INTRUSIVE EMPLACEMENT SYSTEMS SUCH AS CONE PENETROMETERS AND PORTABLE INSTRUMENTS. THE SENSORS WILL EFFICIENTLY MEASURE ENERGY SPECTRA UP TO 300KE V, AN IMPORTANT RANGE FOR SPECTROSCOPIC DETERMINATION OF THE ACTINIDE RADIOISTOPES AND FOR X-RAY FLUORESCENCE OF HEAVY METALS. THE SENSORS WILL INCORPORATE RECENT ADVANCES IN CADMIUM ZINC TELLURIDE (CDZNTE) DETECTOR TECHNOLOGY, SMART SENSOR TECHNOLOGY, AND X-RAY SPECTRAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES AND ELECTRONICS. SENSOR CAPABILITIES WILL INCLUDE: 1) LOCALIZATION OF RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION, 2) QUANTIFICATION BY SPECTRAL ANALYSIS, AND 3) ANALYSIS OF SOIL PROPERTIES AND HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION. THE SENSORS WILL PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES OVER EXISTING ROOM TEMPERATURE TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING IMPROVED ENERGY RESOLUTION, SMALL SIZE, LOW POWER OPERATION, AND SOLID STATE RELIABILITY AND RUGGEDNESS. PHASE I WILL ESTABLISH FEASIBILITY BY ANALYZING PRELIMINARY DETECTOR RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS, AND WILL FURNISH IMPROVED PULSE READOUT ELECTRONICS, METHODS FOR QUANTITATIVE INTERPRETATION, AND ENGINEERING PARAMETERS REQUIRED TO BUILD A PHASE II PROTOTYPE SENSOR.