NPRE graduate student awarded Best Poster in national-level nuclear security meeting

6/15/2018 Susan Mumm

Written by Susan Mumm

NPRE graduate student awarded Best Poster in national-level nuclear security meeting

The research of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering graduate student Aric Tate to add precision timing to a high-Z detection technique was recognized at a national-level nuclear security meeting held recently in Michigan.

Tate gained the Best Poster Award for his work, “Muon Tomography with Fast Timing for Fissile Material Detection,” presented during the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research & Development meeting held the first week of June. Universities and laboratory partners from across the country were invited to showcase their research to the broader nuclear security and nonproliferation community.

Muons are subatomic particles that make up much of the cosmic radiation reaching the earth's surface. Muon tomography measures the Compton scattering of cosmic ray muons to generate three-dimensional images of volumes. Muon tomography systems have been deployed to detect nuclear material in road transport vehicles and cargo containers for the purposes of non-proliferation.

Tate’s research proposes adding resistive plate chambers to muon detection systems to provide the systems with the high precision timing required to make a time-of-flight measurement. This addition would allow the systems to more precisely measure the energy of individual muons passing through the detector, improving the reconstruction of material held within a container.

Physics Prof. Matthias Perdekamp advises Tate, and his work is funded by the Consortium for Nonproliferation Enabling Capabilities (CNEC).

 


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This story was published June 15, 2018.