Fission Multiplicity Detection with Temporal Gamma-Neutron Discrimination from Higher-Order Time Correlation Statistics

The current practice of nondestructive assay (NDA) of fissile materials using neutrons is dominated by the {sup 3}He detector. This has been the case since the mid 1980s when Fission Multiplicity Detection (FMD) was replaced with thermal well counters and neutron multiplicity counting (NMC). The thermal well counters detect neutrons by neutron capture in the {sup 3}He detector subsequent to moderation. The process of detection requires from 30 to 60 {micro}s. As will be explained in Section 3.3 the rate of detecting correlated neutrons (signal) from the same fission are independent of this time but the rate of accidental correlations (noise) are proportional to this time. The well counters are at a distinct disadvantage when there is a large source of uncorrelated neutrons present from ({alpha}, n) reactions for example. Plastic scintillating detectors, as were used in FMD, require only about 20 ns to detect neutrons from fission. One thousandth as many accidental coincidences are therefore accumulated. The major problem with the use of fast-plastic scintillation detectors, however, is that both neutrons and gamma rays are detected. The pulses from the two are indistinguishable in these detectors. For this thesis, a new technique was developed to use higher-order time correlation statistics to distinguish combinations of neutron and gamma ray detections in fast-plastic scintillation detectors. A system of analysis to describe these correlations was developed based on simple physical principles. Other sources of correlations from non-fission events are identified and integrated into the analysis developed for fission events. A number of ratios and metric are identified to determine physical properties of the source from the correlations. It is possible to determine both the quantity being measured and detection efficiency from these ratios from a single measurement without a separate calibration. To account for detector dead-time, an alternative analytical technique was also developed