Erlangen 2022 – scientific programme

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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 3: Fissile Materials and Detection

AGA 3.4: Talk

Thursday, March 17, 2022, 16:00–16:30, AGA-H19

Simulations to Discriminate Nuclear Weapon Neutron Emissions from Cosmic Ray Background — •Lennart Wilde¹ and Moritz Kütt² — ¹Nuclear Verification and Disarmament, RWTH Aachen University — ²Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg

Finding nuclear weapons is difficult, in particular if stored in hardened concrete structures, e.g. aircraft shelters. Potentially, the neutrons inevitably emitted by the fissile material within weapons could be used to detect their presence or absence. High absorption in thick concrete walls, together with the cosmic ray neutron background complicate potential measurements. This work uses Monte Carlo particle transport simulations to determine how directional information of neutron emissions could improve future detection capabilities. Using a common German aircraft shelter as a case study, we show that neutrons of a weapon inside are leave the structure mostly through the steel door. At the same time, the bunker structure partially shields a neutron detector from cosmic neutron background radiation. Based on our results, we can make recommendations for detector shielding and placement to improve sensitivity and reduce measurement time.