Accurate modeling of the terrestrial gamma-ray background for homeland security applications

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed computer models to simulate the use of radiation portal monitors to screen vehicles and cargo for the presence of illicit radioactive material. The gamma radiation emitted by the vehicles or cargo containers must often be measured in the presence of a relatively large gamma-ray background that is mainly due to the presence of potassium, uranium, and thorium (and progeny isotopes) in the soil and surrounding building materials. This large background is often a significant limit to the detection sensitivity for items of interest and must be modeled accurately for analyzing homeland security situations. Calculations of the expected gamma-ray emission from a disk of soil and asphalt were made using the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP and were compared to measurements made with a thallium-drifted sodium iodide detector. Analysis revealed that the energy spectrum of the measured background could not be reproduced unless the model included gamma rays coming from the ground out to distances of at least 300 m. The contribution from beyond about 50 m was primarily due to gamma rays that scattered in the air before entering the detectors rather than passing directly from the ground to the detectors. These skyshine gamma rays contribute tens of percent to the total gamma-ray spectrum, primarily at energies below a few hundred keV. The techniques that are being developed to efficiently calculate the contributions from a large soil disk and a large air volume in a Monte Carlo simulation are described and the implications of skyshine in portal monitoring applications are discussed.