Muons scanner to detect radioactive source hidden in scrap metal containers: Mu-steel EU project

Muon tomography has been recently proposed by a Los Alamos research group [1]. Some proponents of this abstract built and operated the first large volume prototype of muon tomography [2] and based on the results obtained participated to a request for European funding, that was granted in the Mu-Steel project [3]. The project started in July 2010 and finished at the end of 2012. The final goal of the project was the design of an inspection portal able to detect, using the cosmic rays, shielded radioactive sources hidden in scrap metal containers. Indeed in the last years it happened that such radioactive sources could pass undetected the entrance controls and, once melted, caused enormous damages to the steel mills, contaminating all the production line. The project studied and built a prototype for the muon detectors to be used in the portal, designed the structure and the configuration of the inspection portal and developed the needed tomographic reconstruction software. The results of the project will be presented and discussed.