TY - JOUR
T1 - Standoff UV-C imaging of alpha particle emitters
AU - Krasniqi, Faton S.
AU - Kerst, Thomas
AU - Leino, Martti
AU - Eisheh, Jens Tarek
AU - Toivonen, Harri
AU - Röttger, Annette
AU - Toivonen, Juha
N1 - Funding Information:
F.S.K. gratefully acknowledges the PTB guest scientist program “von uns in die Welt” for supporting the scientific visit at the Tampere University. T.K., M.L. and J.T. gratefully acknowledge European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR Project 16ENV09, MetroDecom II) and the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme, Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN) , decision 320165 , for supporting this work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Alpha particles are proven to be very useful in many areas of medicine, technology and science. Yet, they represent the biggest risk to soft biological tissues compared to all nuclear decay products when ingested or inhaled, implying thus stringent radiation protection measures in the management and monitoring of samples that emit them. In this paper we present a standoff optical imaging approach that enables sensing of a radiological threat items at facilities where alpha-emitting material is manufactured, handled, used and stored, at safe distances without putting personnel at risk or contaminating equipment. The optical imaging of alpha-emitting samples is based on the radiation induced air luminescence (radioluminescence) in the UV-C (solar-blind) spectral region which enables detection of alpha particles even under bright light conditions. We show that by adding trace amounts of nitric oxide into the nitrogen atmosphere surrounding the sample, alpha sources with specific activities as low as 1.5 Bq/cm2 can be remotely imaged. This work provides a proof-of-concept implementation of a novel imaging approach that not only enhances capabilities of a state to take actions which effectively mitigate consequences of an radiological emergency for the society, health, environment and economy, but also benefits nuclear industry in decommissioning efforts.
AB - Alpha particles are proven to be very useful in many areas of medicine, technology and science. Yet, they represent the biggest risk to soft biological tissues compared to all nuclear decay products when ingested or inhaled, implying thus stringent radiation protection measures in the management and monitoring of samples that emit them. In this paper we present a standoff optical imaging approach that enables sensing of a radiological threat items at facilities where alpha-emitting material is manufactured, handled, used and stored, at safe distances without putting personnel at risk or contaminating equipment. The optical imaging of alpha-emitting samples is based on the radiation induced air luminescence (radioluminescence) in the UV-C (solar-blind) spectral region which enables detection of alpha particles even under bright light conditions. We show that by adding trace amounts of nitric oxide into the nitrogen atmosphere surrounding the sample, alpha sources with specific activities as low as 1.5 Bq/cm2 can be remotely imaged. This work provides a proof-of-concept implementation of a novel imaging approach that not only enhances capabilities of a state to take actions which effectively mitigate consequences of an radiological emergency for the society, health, environment and economy, but also benefits nuclear industry in decommissioning efforts.
KW - Imaging of alpha emitters
KW - Optical detection of alpha emitters
KW - Radioluminescence
KW - Stand-off detection of alpha emitters
KW - UV-C
U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2020.164821
DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2020.164821
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85095454930
SN - 0168-9002
VL - 987
JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
M1 - 164821
ER -