Neutron Activation Data for Neutron Interrogation

Various schemes have been proposed for neutron interrogation of packages, luggage, or containers with the intent of locating concealed contraband items such as conventional explosives, drugs, or restricted special nuclear materials. Relatively intense and energetic neutron sources are usually required in these applications in order to penetrate the scanned objects and to provide unambiguous characteristic signals that are well above background, thereby minimizing both false positives and negatives. Consequently, neutron irradiation of the materials in tested objects during the interrogation process could lead to the production of significant residual radioactivity. This, in turn, might either limit or prevent the application of these methods in those situations where there is a potential for unacceptable public exposure to the induced secondary radiations. The present study aims to identify those particular neutron-induced reactions that might generate significant activation. This is accomplished by conducting a thorough survey of the current status of the pertinent cross section data available from the major general purpose and special purpose data files for neutron energies up to 15 MeV. This conference paper provides an overview of this ongoing project and discusses the status of some of the more prominent candidate reactions that have been identified to date.