Fast neutron transmission spectroscopy for illicit substance detection

Fast Neutron Transmission Spectroscopy (FNTS) is being investigated for detecting explosives in luggage and other small containers. It uses an accelerator to generate nanosecond-pulsed neutron beams that strike a target, producing a white source of neutrons. Elemental distributions along projections through the interrogated object are obtained by analyzing neutron transmission data. Tomographic reconstruction is used to determine the spatial variations of individual elemental densities. Elemental densities are combined in a detection algorithm that indicates presence or absence of explosives. The elemental unfolding and tomographic reconstruction algorithms have been validated by application to experimental data. System studies have been performed to study the operational characteristics and limitations of a FNTS system, and to determine the system`s sensitivity to several important parameters such as flight path length and position of the interrogated object.