PHDS COMPANY — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 04c

Description

The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration NNSA) Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation DNN) mission includes the development of gamma-ray detection technologies that will improve the state of the art for measurement of nuclear materials. Special Nuclear Material measurements require the most efficient use of the radiation signatures of these materials to make reliable assessments. This program seeks to develop the most sensitive portable spectroscopic gamma-ray imaging system ever made. The GeGI-DNN detector system will incorporate a large segmented germanium detector to enable high-resolution, high-efficiency imaging measurements of structures made of Special Nuclear Materials. Using an existing GeGI detector system, the Phase-I program will improve the fundamental data processing and gamma-ray imaging algorithms to make the most efficient possible use of the measured photons. Hardware and software modifications that maximize efficiency for both pinhole and Compton imaging will be developed, implemented, evaluated, and demonstrated to support the manufacture of prototype GeGI-DNN systems during Phase II. The GeGI-DNN detector systems developed under this program will provide a detector and software basis for efficient gamma-ray spectroscopy and imaging to facilitate measurements critical to the diagnostics and stewardship of the domestic nuclear stockpile. In the long term, these larger-diameter detector systems will provide improved capabilities for high solid-angle coverage, high-resolution planar imaging and SPECT detector arrays for nuclear medicine research and clinical applications.