Real-Time Dual Mode Criticality Detection and 3D Mapping

Nuclear criticality incidents can have devastating impacts ranging from radiation exposure and loss of life to facility damage and environmental radiological contamination which may also result in the evacuation or abandonment of communities and economic damages in the billions of dollars. While criticality monitoring and prevention solutions exist for commercial nuclear power plants and nuclear facilities, these solutions are often permanently installed and operate as part of a highly controlled and regulated operating environment or rely on known quantities and stable states of fissile materials. However, portable, dual-mode, criticality detection solutions that provide intuitive real-time radiation data, and situational awareness data, are needed for a variety of applications ranging from defense to homeland security, emergency response, and international safeguards. Advancements in small and sensitive neutron detection materials, as well as compact, multi-channel radiation detector readout electronics, now make compact and mobile criticality detection systems possible. Furthermore, combining these advancements with commercially available real-time 3D radiation mapping, data fusion, and visualization technologies can be leveraged to develop a new criticality detection and mapping capability that will provide faster and safer ways to detect, identify, communicate, map, and visualize potential sources and risk of a criticality incident to inform rapid response.