Detection Capabilities of Various Scintillation Measurement Systems

A key aspect of nuclear security is the ability to detect and identify radioactive materials of interest. To address this aspect three spectroscopic radiation detectors were compared experimentally and using radiation transport simulations to gain insight into their potential to detect and differentiate multiple radiation sources at one time. By doing experimental measurements with the radiation detectors lanthanum bromide (LaBr3), cerium bromide (CeBr3), and sodium iodide (NaI), we can better characterize their capabilities at identifying different materials as well as the limits to their detection capabilities. This also allows us to better understand how these detectors handle multiple sources at once and the detectors’ abilities to distinguish gamma rays of similar energies. In this paper, we will be looking at a 2x2-inch NaI, a 1.5x1.5-inch CeBr3, and a 1.5x1.5-inch LaBr3 detector and their energy resolution both experimentally and utilizing radiation transport simulations to see how each detector performs compared to the others. This data will be used to compare to previous data taken on these same detectors six years prior to look at the energy resolution over a long period of time. This study will also be utilizing two different software to understand the difference in each code's ability to simulate the experimental data for each type of detector.