Project R-11231

Radiological mapping and localisation via light weight Compton imaging system supported by thin shielding and collimation materials" (Research)

A nuclear site in decommissioning constitutes a challenging environment for ensuring worker safety. Crucial for the safety of activities in this changing nuclear environment is that sources, hotspots or other contamination are well localised and characterised. In this environment and in the proximity of radioactive sources, workers only have a short time to perform the required operations, which introduces risks of missing sources or inaccurate measurements. Robots that can access the different objects need to be small and can often only use simple detectors that scan point by point. Recently, new types of lightweight gamma cameras were developed. With these cameras and in particular a combination of them for Compton imaging, geometrical data of the radioactive hotspots can be directly extracted, however this remains complicated in high radiation fields with multiple sources. Therefore, the main aim of this research project is to combine these gamma cameras with lightweight collimation and shielding material to develop a flexible imaging system based on Compton reconstruction specifically developed to handle the high, complex radiation fields. The imaging system will be optimised for computational demands to allow remote handling operations. The added value of including lighter alternatives for shielding and collimation materials for operating in high complex radiation fields is evaluated and the system is optimised via benchmarking in laboratory and real-life circumstances.

01 November 2020 - 31 October 2022