Inverse modeling of X-ray imaging to combat nuclear materials trafficking
(Phys.org) —As part of the ongoing effort to curtail illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Texas at Austin studied inverse modeling of spectral X-ray radiography to determine the presence of nuclear materials in small containers or composite objects, such as baggage. In their examination, the researchers applied an inversion algorithm to synthetic radiographs of objects composed of layers of plutonium, cotton, steel, lead, aluminum, and copper to estimate the quantities of these materials within the layers. Their work showed that coupling the algorithm with current-generation commercial detectors has the potential to distinguish small quantities of nuclear materials from other high-Z materials, such as nuclear material stowed within airline passenger luggage.