Advances in Nuclear Radiation Sensing: Enabling 3-D Gamma-Ray Vision

Vetter, K.; Barnowski, Ross; Cates, Joshua; Haefner, Andrew; Joshi, T. H. Y.; Pavlovsky, Ryan; Quiter, Brian J.

doi:10.3390/s19112541

Cited by 53 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Our method can be extended in a simple way, however, to establish whether detection of these types of emitters is feasible. Incorporating stationary sensors, and detectors of varying types mounted on a range of portable platforms such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and hand-held devices could dramatically improve the sensor network’s effectiveness and can be readily implemented into our existing analysis tools [ 29 , 30 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting Nuclear Materials in Urban Environments Using Mobile Sensor Networks

Flanagan

Brandt

Osborne

et al. 2021

Sensors

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Radiation detectors installed at major ports of entry are a key component of the overall strategy to protect countries from nuclear terrorism. While the goal of deploying these systems is to intercept special nuclear material as it enters the country, no detector system is foolproof. Mobile, distributed sensors have been proposed to detect nuclear materials in transit should portal monitors fail to prevent their entry in the first place. In large metropolitan areas, a mobile distributed sensor network could be deployed using vehicle platforms such as taxis, Ubers, and Lyfts, which are already connected to communications infrastructure. However, performance and coverage that could be achieved using a network of sensors mounted on commercial passenger vehicles has not been established. Here, we evaluate how a mobile sensor network could perform in New York City using a combination of radiation transport and geographic information systems. The geographic information system is used in conjunction with OpenStreetMap data to isolate roads and construct a grid over the streets. Vehicle paths are built using pickup and drop off data from Uber, and from the New York State Department of Transportation. The results show that the time to first detection increases with source velocity, decreases with the number of mobile detectors, and reaches a plateau that depends on the strength of the source.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting Nuclear Materials in Urban Environments Using Mobile Sensor Networks

Flanagan

Brandt

Osborne

et al. 2021

Sensors

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“…The definition of the events of interest that will be handled by a system should not be static, allowing easy modifications. First of all, new hardware components may be created along the time and become affordable for large-scale deployment, for example as it is happening with gamma cameras [34,35]. Second, new monitoring requirements may arise, depending on the occurrence of critical events.…”

Section: Detecting Events and Sending Reportsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Use of Cameras for the Detection of Critical Events in Sensors-Based Emergency Alerting Systems

Costa

Vasques

Portugal

et al. 2020

JSAN

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The adoption of emergency alerting systems can bring countless benefits when managing urban areas, industrial plants, farms, roads and virtually any area that is subject to the occurrence of critical events, supporting in rescue operations and reducing their negative impacts. For such systems, a promising approach is to exploit scalar sensors to detect events of interest, allowing for the distributed monitoring of different variables. However, the use of cameras as visual sensors can enhance the detection of critical events, which can be employed along with scalar sensors for a more comprehensive perception of the environment. Although the particularities of visual sensing may be challenging in some scenarios, the combination of scalar and visual sensors for the early detection of emergency situations can be valuable for many scenarios, such as smart cities and industry 4.0, bringing promising results. Therefore, in this article, we extend a sensors-based emergency detection and alerting system to also exploit visual monitoring when identifying critical events. Implementation and experimental details are provided to reinforce the use of cameras as a relevant sensor unit, bringing promising results for emergencies management.

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“…With a focus on weight and size reduction, Compton cameras are drawing increased attention from the scientific community because heavy and bulky collimators can be omitted [ 7 ], resulting in compact systems such as the Nanopix [ 8 ]. Gamma cameras can also be constructed with commercial detectors, such as the Kromek Sigma and GR1 [ 9 ] (p. 5, Figure 2), searching for a trade-off between accuracy, handling, and ease of deployment. Recent work by Liu et al has advanced the image reconstruction algorithms for scintillator-based gamma cameras such as the Kromek Sigma [ 10 ], although the presented solutions can also be applied to semiconductor based cameras.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent work by Liu et al has advanced the image reconstruction algorithms for scintillator-based gamma cameras such as the Kromek Sigma [ 10 ], although the presented solutions can also be applied to semiconductor based cameras. Yuki Sato and Tatsuo Torii offer a comprehensive solution for a gamma camera, overlaying radiation data with point cloud data (PCD) obtained with LiDAR and VIS cameras [ 9 , 11 ], with as significant drawback the size of their experimental setup as well as their cost, and a limited field of view (FOV). Particularly in nuclear facilities with high radiation dose rates, such as nuclear power plants or nuclear reprocessing facilities, access to areas is often restricted to small diameter ports with a diameter of ca.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Miniaturised Low-Cost Gamma Scanning Platform for Contamination Identification, Localisation and Characterisation: A New Instrument in the Decommissioning Toolkit

Verbelen

Martin

Ahmad³

et al. 2021

Sensors

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Formerly clandestine, abandoned and legacy nuclear facilities, whether associated with civil or military applications, represent a significant decommissioning challenge owing to the lack of knowledge surrounding the existence, location and types of radioactive material(s) that may be present. Consequently, mobile and highly deployable systems that are able to identify, spatially locate and compositionally assay contamination ahead of remedial actions are of vital importance. Deployment imposes constraints to dimensions resulting from small diameter access ports or pipes. Herein, we describe a prototype low-cost, miniaturised and rapidly deployable ‘cell characterisation’ gamma-ray scanning system to allow for the examination of enclosed (internal) or outdoor (external) spaces for radioactive ‘hot-spots’. The readout from the miniaturised and lead-collimated gamma-ray spectrometer, that is progressively rastered through a stepped snake motion, is combined with distance measurements derived from a single-point laser range-finder to obtain an array of measurements in order to yield a 3-dimensional point-cloud, based on a polar coordinate system—scaled for radiation intensity. Existing as a smaller and more cost-effective platform than presently available, we are able to produce a millimetre-accurate 3D volumetric rendering of a space—whether internal or external, onto which fully spectroscopic radiation intensity data can be overlain to pinpoint the exact positions at which (even low abundance) gamma-emitting materials exist.

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Advances in Nuclear Radiation Sensing: Enabling 3-D Gamma-Ray Vision

Cited by 53 publications

References 28 publications

Detecting Nuclear Materials in Urban Environments Using Mobile Sensor Networks

Detecting Nuclear Materials in Urban Environments Using Mobile Sensor Networks

On the Use of Cameras for the Detection of Critical Events in Sensors-Based Emergency Alerting Systems

Miniaturised Low-Cost Gamma Scanning Platform for Contamination Identification, Localisation and Characterisation: A New Instrument in the Decommissioning Toolkit

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