Employment of the pulsed-ion accelerator as a high-power intermediate energy neutron generator for remote detection of nuclear explosives

In this paper, we analyze the possibility of remote detection of /sup 235/U and /sup 239/Pu nuclides using a technique of pulsed illumination (probing) of a target by neutrons with submegaelectronvolts energies. The choice of such energy range is discussed in . The proposed technique is based on registration of the object-induced radiation (object response) after the object being irradiated by a high-power neutron pulse. Sensitivity of the technique (detection distance) is determined by the illumination source power, as well as by efficiency and discrimination capability of the detectors.