Detection of Highly Enriched Uranium Using a Pulsed D-D Fusion Source

R. F. Radel; G. L. Kulcinski; R. P. Ashley; J. F. Santarius; G. A. Emmert; G. R. Piefer; J. H. Sorebo; D. R. Boris; B. Egle; S. J. Zenobia; E. Alderson; D. C. Donovan

doi:dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST52-1087

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Home / Publications / Journals / Fusion Science and Technology / Volume 52 / Number 4

Detection of Highly Enriched Uranium Using a Pulsed D-D Fusion Source

R. F. Radel, G. L. Kulcinski, R. P. Ashley, J. F. Santarius, G. A. Emmert, G. R. Piefer, J. H. Sorebo, D. R. Boris, B. Egle, S. J. Zenobia, E. Alderson, D. C. Donovan

Fusion Science and Technology / Volume 52 / Number 4 / November 2007 / Pages 1087-1091

Technical Paper / Nonelectric Applications / dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST52-1087

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This paper overviews the work that has been done to date towards the development of a compact, reliable means to detect Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and other fissile materials utilizing a pulsed Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) D-D fusion device. To date, the UW IEC device has achieved 115 kV pulses in excess of 2 ampere, with pulsed neutron rates of 1.8 × 10⁹ n/s during a 0.5 ms pulse at 10 Hz. MCNP modeling indicates that detection of samples of U-235 as small as 10 grams is achievable at current neutron production rates, and initial pulsed and steady-state HEU detection experiments have verified these results.