Bulk explosives detection using nuclear resonant absorption technique

Summary form only given, as follows. Analyses of the transmission profile of 9.17 MeV gamma rays by tomographic techniques will result in the determination of nitrogen concentration, which is a strong signature of high explosives. The success of this method depends on the production of high current proton beams (> 1 mA) with small energy spread (< 2 keV) and small emittance, advanced detector technology and state-of-the-art tomographic reconstruction algorithms to achieve the desirable throughput rate with acceptable reliability. We will present transport calculations of a proton beam for a carbon target and the subsequent generation of gamma rays. Preliminary optimization of the resonant gammas with respect to the proton energy spread will also be presented.