HANDBOOK ON RADIATION PROBING, GAUGING, IMAGING AND ANALYSIS

Handbook on Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis Volume II: Applications and Design

by

ESAM M.A. HUSSEIN Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitv (!f New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS DORDRECHTI BOSTON I LONDON

A CI.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-90-481-6292-5 ISBN 978-0-306-48403-2 (eBook) DOT 10.1007/978-0-306-48403-2

Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 17,3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Sold and distributed in North, Central and South America by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 101 Philip Drive, Norwell, MA 02061, U.S.A.

In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Printed 011 acid~ti'ee paper

All Rights Reserved © 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 2003

No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by allY means. electronic. mechanical, photocopying. microfilming, recording or otherwise. without written permission from the Publisher. with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed 011 a computer system. for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.

Dedicated in memory of my Father Mahmoud, my Uncle Roshdi, and

my Aunt Alia.

Contents

Preface Acknowledgments

Foreword

VOLUME TWO: APPLICATIONS AND DESIGN

PART III: APPLICATIONS

10. PROBING, INSPECTION AND MONITORING 10.1 Surface Condition 10.2 Damage and Flaw Detection 10.3 Residual Stresses 10.4 Flow Obstruction 10.5 Monitors

10.5.1 Process Monitoring 10.5.2 Smoke Detectors 10.5.3 Radon 10.5.4 Other Gases

10.6 Hidden Materials 10.6.1 Industrial Materials 10.6.2 Radioactive Materials 10.6.3 Illicit Materials

11. GAUGING 11.1 Bulk Density

11.1.1 Alpha-Particle Transmission

vii

XIX

XXI

xxiii

441

443

447 454 456 457 458 458 460 460 462 463 463 463 464

465 465 466

viii Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis

11.1.2 Beta-Particle Transmission 467 11.1.3 Beta-Particle Scattering 468 11.1.4 Photon-Based Methods 468

11.2 Thickness 474 11.2.1 Charged Particles 475 11.2.2 Photon Transmission 476 11.2.3 Photon Scattering 478 11.2.4 X-ray Emission 479 11.2.5 Neutrons 482 11.2.6 Composi tion-Independent 482

11.3 Porosity and Voidage 483 11.4 Water (Moisture) Content 484 11.5 Measurements in Fluid Flow 489

11.5.1 Density 490 11.5.2 Flow-Rate by Radiotracers 491 11.5.3 Gas Flow-Rate by Ionization 494 11.5.4 Flow-Rate by Pulsed-Neutron Activation 494 11.5.5 Level Measurement 495 11.5.6 Liquid-Liquid Interface 502 11.5.7 Leak Detection 503 11.5.8 Volume 506 11.5.9 Gas Properties 507 11.5.10Flow Distribution 510 11.5.11 Void Fraction 511 11.5.12 Multiphase Flow 515 11.5.13 Isotope Hydrology 517

11.6 Dating 518

12. ELEMENTAL AND CONTENT ANALYSIS 521 12.1 Nucleus-Based Analysis 522

12.1.1 Activation Analysis 522 12.1.2 Passive Emission 544 12.1.3 Resonance Effects 549 12.1.4 Fast-Neutron Scatteroscopy 553 12.1.5 Charged-Particle Scatteroscopy 554

12.2 Atom-Based Analysis 556 12.2.1 Fluoroscopic Excitation 556 12.2.2 Composition Indication 562

12.3 Hydrogen Measurement 571 12.3.1 Neutron Slowing-Down 574 12.3.2 Scattering into Resonances 579 12.3.3 Beta Particles 582 12.3.4 Compton Sca.ttering 584 12.3.5 Cold Neutrons 585

Contents ix

12.4 Material Content Analysis 585 12.4.1 Alpha Particles 586 12.4.2 Beta Particles 587 12.4.3 Photons 591 12.4.4 Neutrons 595 12.4.5 X-ray Fluoroscopic Emission 603 12.4.6 Mossbauer Spectroscopy 604 12.4.7 Natural Radioactivity 604 12.4.8 Combined Techniques 604

13. IMAGING 607 13.1 Photon Radiography 607

13.1.1 Film Radiography 607 13.1.2 Radioscopy 608 13.1.3 Flash Radiography 611 13.1.4 Microfocus Radiography 612 13.1.5 Megavoltage Radiography 613 13.1.6 Low-Energy Radiography 614 13.1.7 Bremsstrahlung Radiography 615 13.1.8 Laminography 615 13.1.9 Scatterography 617 13.1.10 Emission Imaging 619 13.1.11 Diffraction Imaging 621

13.2 Neutron Radiography 621 13.3 Charged-Particle Radiography 628

13.3.1 Autoradiography 630 13.4 Tomography 633

13.4.1 Photon Tomography 633 13.4.2 Neutron Tomography 638 13.4.3 Scatter Imaging 639 13.4.4 Emission Tomography 640 13.4.5 Proton Tomography 640

13.5 Imaging for Material Content 641 13.5.1 Dual-Energy Imaging 641 13.5.2 Critical-Edge Tomography 641 13.5.3 Transmission/Scatter Imaging 642 13.5.4 Photon Coherent-Scatter Imaging 643 13.5.5 Emission Imaging 644

PART IV: DESIGN 647

14. PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS AND DESIGN ASPECTS 653 14.1 Performance Parameters 653

x Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis

14.2 Statistical Optimization 14.3 Design Objectives 14.4 Source Selection

14.4.1 Radiotracers 14.4.2 Source Generation 14.4.3 Source Energy 14.4.4 Interfering Radiation

14.5 Selection of Technique 14.6 Detection System

14.6.1 Detector Selection 14.6.2 Electronics 14.6.3 Detector Collimation 14.6.4 Filtration

15. SOURCE MODULATION 15.1 Source Collimation

15.1.1 Design Parameters 15.1.2 Geometry 15.1.3 Beam Profile 15.1.4 Divergence and Alignment 15.1.5 Collimation of Charged-Particles 15.1.6 Photon Collimation 15.1.7 Fast-Neutron Collimation 15.1.8 Collimation of Thermal-Neutrons

15.2 Filtering 15.2.1 X-Rays 15.2.2 Neutrons

15.3 Neutron Moderation 15.3.1 Moderating Materials 15.3.2 Moderating by Containment 15.3.3 Block Moderation 15.3.4 Moderation by Reflection

15.4 Neutron Multiplication

16. DESIGN CALCULATIONS 16.1 Design Parameters 16.2 Monte Carlo Simulation 16.3 Shielding

16.3.1 General 16.3.2 X-Ray :t\lachines 16.3.3 Isotopic Gamma Sources 16.3.4 Neutrons 16.3.5 Computer Codes

659 662 663 665 666 667 670 671 673 673 674 675 678

681 681 681 683 686 687 688 688 689 692 695 695 699 705 705 710 712 714 716

719 719 720 728 728 732 734 735 735

Contents

17. EXPERIMENTS 17.1 Experimental Aspects 17.2 Licensing

17.2.1 General 17.2.2 X-Ray Machines 17.2.3 Radioisotopes 17.2.4 Particle Accelerators

17.3 Background Reduction 17.3.1 Definition and Origin of Background 17.3.2 In Transmission 17.3.3 In Scattering 17.3.4 In Emission

17.4 Dynamic Analysis 17.4.1 Expected-Value Analysis 17.4.2 Frequency Analysis 17.4.3 Movement

18. FINALIZATION 18.1 Prototyping 18.2 Intellectual Property Protection

A. Basic Units and Constants

B. List of Elements and Natural Isotopes

C. Relativistic Mechanics

D. Quantum Mechanics D.l Preliminaries D.2 Schrodinger Equation D.3 Concept of Cross-Section D.4 Quantum Electrodynamics

E. Nuclear/Atomic Parameters for Compounds and Mixtures E.l Atomic Density E.2 Electron Density E.3 Macroscopic Cross-Section E.4 Effective Mass and Atomic Numbers

E.4.1 Electron-Density Based E.4.2 Reaction Cross-Section Based E.4.3 Reaction-Ratio Based

F. Effective Energy F.l Mean Energy

xi

739 739 742 742 746 748 749 751 751 752 754 756 757 758 759 761

763 763 766

xxvii

XXIX

xxxv

xxxix xxxix

xli xlvi

I

liii liii liv Iv

lvii lvii lvii

lviii

lxi lxi

xii Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis

F.2 Most Probable Energy F.3 Cross-Section Dependent F.4 Best Match

lxii lxii lxii

G. Radiation Counting Statistics lxv G.1 Poisson Statistics lxv

G.1.1 Mean and Variance lxvi G.1. 2 Population Statistics lxvii

G.2 Gross/Background Count Rates lxviii G.2.1 Net Count Rate lxviii G.2.2 Number of Measurements and Counting Period lxix

G.3 Goodness of Data lxx G.4 Current-Mode Statistics G.5 Elemental Error

References

About the Author

Application Index

Index

lxxii lxxv

lxxvii

clxxxvi

clxxxix

cxcix

Contents

Preface xix Acknowledgments XXI

Foreword XXlll

VOLUME ONE: BASICS AND TECHNIQUES 1

1. INTRODUCTION 3 1.1 Why Radiation 3 1.2 Nondestructive Examination (NDE) 4 1.3 Conventional NDE Methods 6 1.4 Elements of ND E 9 1.5 Intricacy of Radiation Methods 10

PART I: BASICS 15

2. RADIATION TYPES AND SOURCES 19 2.1 Charged Particles 19

2.1.1 Alpha Particles 19 2.1.2 Beta Particles 21 2.1.3 Discrete-Energy Electrons 25 2.1.4 Positrons 26 2.1.5 Heavy-Charged Particles 29

2.2 Photons 30 2.2.1 X-ray Machines 31 2.2.2 Low-Energy Photon Sources 36 2.2.3 Primary Gamma Rays 44 2.2.4 Indirect Gamma Rays 46

2.3 Neutrons 46 2.3.1 Fast Neutrons 48 2.3.2 Intermediate-Energy Neutrons 55 2.3.3 Slow Neutrons 56 2.3.4 Cold Neutrons 58

2.4 Natural Sources 59

xiii

xiv Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis

3. MODIFYING PHYSICS 63 3.1 General 63 3.2 Cross Sections 66

3.2.1 Microscopic Cross-Section 66 3.2.2 Differential Cross-Section 67 3.2.3 Macroscopic Cross-Section 67

3.3 Charged Particles 70 3.3.1 Alpha Particles 71 3.3.2 Beta Particles 75

3.4 Photons 78 3.4.1 Photoelectric Absorption 81 3.4.2 Incoherent/Inelastic (Compton) Scattering 82 3.4.3 Coherent/Elastic Scattering 92 3.4.4 Pair Production 95 3.4.5 Photo-nuclear Interactions 99

3.5 Neutrons 99 3.5.1 Elastic Scattering 100 3.5.2 Inelastic Interactions 103 3.5.3 Absorption 105 3.5.4 Fission and Multiplicity Reactions 105 3.5.5 Coherent Scattering 106 3.5.6 Cross Sections 108

3.6 Radiation Transport 122 3.6.1 Classical Laws of Conservation 125 3.6.2 Divergence Law 127 3.6.3 Attenuation Law 129 3.6.4 Diffusion Theory 130 3.6.5 Transport of Charged-Particles 132

3.7 Radioactive Decay 133 3.7.1 Kinetics of Decay 133 3.7.2 Parent / Daughter Decay 134 3.7.3 Equilibrium 135 3.7.4 Decay Chains 137

4. DETECTION METHODS 139 4.1 Introduction 139 4.2 Charged-Particle Detectors 142

4.2.1 Detection by Chemical Reactions 142 4.2.2 Detection by Direct Ionization 144 4.2.3 Detection by Scintillation 159 4.2.4 Semiconductor Detectors 165

4.3 Photon Detectors 171 4.3.1 Gas-Ionization Detectors 173 4.3.2 Scintillation Detectors 175 4.3.3 Semiconductor Detectors 182 4.3.4 Radiographic Films 188 4.3.5 Electrostatic Plates 188

4.4 N en trons Detectors 189

Contents XV

4.4.1 Gas Detectors 189 4.4.2 Scintillation Detectors 204 4.4.3 Other Detection Methods 216

4.5 Signal Processing and Analysis 218 4.5.1 Basic Components 219 4.5.2 Pulse-Mode Counting 224 4.5.3 Current-Mode Operation 226 4.5.4 Energy Spectroscopy 227 4.5.5 Timing Measurements 228 4.5.6 Statistics 232 4.5.7 Problems in Pulse Analysis 235

5. RADIATION SAFETY 243 5.1 Introduction 243 5.2 Principles and Definitions 244 5.3 Principles of Radiation Protection 247 5.4 Monitoring and Dosimetry 248

PART II: TECHNIQUES 253

6. TRANSMISSION METHODS 259 6.1 Measurement Model 259 6.2 Pencil-Beam Probing 265 6.3 Radiography 269

6.3.1 Film Radiography 270 6.3.2 Variations of Film Radiography 279

6.4 Tomography 282 6.4.1 Problem Formulation 282 6.4.2 Back-Projection 286 6.4.3 Successive Approximation 287 6.4.4 Modal Approximation 295 6.4.5 Filtered Back-Projection 298 6.4.6 Image Quality 299

6.5 Special Methods 302 6.5.1 Combined with Scattering 302 6.5.2 Region-of-Interest Imaging 303 6.5.3 Dual Transmission 303 6.5.4 Resonance Mapping 305 6.5.5 Mossbauer Spectrometry 306

6.6 Charged-Particle Transmission 307 6.6.1 Alpha Particles 308 6.6.2 Beta Particles 309 6.6.3 Electron Radiography 309

7. SCATTERING METHODS 311 7.1 Introduction 311 7.2 Measurement Model 312

xvi Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis

7.2.1 Model for Compton Scattering 316 7.2.2 Model for Neutron-Elastic Scattering 318

7.3 Point Probing 320 7.3.1 Neglected Attenuation 321 7.3.2 Signal Modulation 322 7.3.3 Attenuation Averaging 322 7.3.4 Constant-Transmission 323 7.3.5 Normalized Scattering and Transmission 325 7.3.6 Single Low-Energy Source Transmission-Assisted 326 7.3.7 Two-Source Transmission-Assisted 328 7.3.8 Dual-Energy: Special Case 329 7.3.9 Dual-Energy: General Case 331 7.3.10 Coherent-Scatter Probing 334 7.3.11 Probing with Neutrons 335

7.4 Multi-Point Probing and Analysis 338 7.5 Scatterometry 342

7.5.1 Measurement Model 344 7.5.2 Linear Response 345 7.5.3 Variable Source-to-Detector Distance Method 345 7.5.4 Ratio Method 346 7.5.5 Saturated Scattering 346 7.5.6 Energy Spectrum 347 7.5.7 Combined Bulk and Probing Measurements 350

7.6 Scatterography 350 7.7 Reconstructed Scatter-Imaging 355

7.7.1 Point-by-Point Scanning 356 7.7.2 Integration Method 359 7.7.3 Nonlinear Solution 359 7.7.4 Coherent-Scatter Imaging 361

7.8 X-Ray Diffraction and Refraction 363 7.8.1 X-Ray Diffraction 363 7.8.2 Refraction 363

7.9 Neutron Diffraction 364 7.10 Scattering of Charged-Particles 365

7.10.1 Scattering of Alpha-Particles 366 7.10.2 Scattering of Beta-Particles 367 7.10.3 Scattering of Ions 368

8. EMISSION METHODS 371 8.1 Gamma-Ray Emission by Neutron Activation 372

8.1.1 Measurement Model 374 8.1.2 Thermal-Neutron Activation 377 8.1.3 Epithermal-Neutron Activation 384 8.1.4 Fast-Neutron Activation 385

8.2 Gamma-Ray Emission by Charged-Particle Activation 392 8.3 GamIlla-Ray Emission by Photon Activation 395 8.4 Gamma-Ray Emission by PositroniuIll Decay 398

Contents xvii

8.5 Charged-Particles Emission 399 8.5.1 Charged-Particle Emission by Photon Activation 400 8.5.2 Charged-Particles Emission by Neutron Activation 401 8.5.3 Charged-Particle Emission by Charged-Particle

Activation 402 8.6 Neutron Emission 404

8.6.1 Neutron Emission by Gamma-Ray Activation 404 8.6.2 Neutron Emission by Charged-Particle Activation 405 8.6.3 Neutron Emission by Neutron Activation 406

8.7 X-Ray Emission 407 8.7.1 Excitation by Isotopic Sources 408 8.7.2 X-Ray Excitation 414 8.7.3 Charged-Particle Excitation 415

8.8 Emission from Internal Sources 417 8.8.1 Radiotracing 418 8.8.2 Radioactive Materials 420 8.8.3 Emission Imaging 425 8.8.4 Gamma Cameras 430

9. ABSORPTION METHODS 9.1 Absorption of Charged Particles 9.2 Photon Absorption Methods 9.3 Neutron Flux Depression Method 9.4 Decay-Time of Neutrons

A. Basic Units and Constants

B. List of Elements and Natural Isotopes

C. Relativistic Mechanics

D. Quantum Mechanics D.1 Preliminaries D.2 Schrodinger Equation D.3 Concept of Cross-Section D.4 Quantum Electrodynamics

E. Nuclear/Atomic Parameters for Compounds and Mixtures E.1 Atomic Density E.2 Electron Density E.3 Macroscopic Cross-Section E.4 Effective Mass and Atomic Numbers

E.4.1 Electron-Density Based E.4.2 Reaction Cross-Section Based E.4.3 Reaction-Ratio Based

433 433 435 436 439

xxvii

xxix

xxxv

XXXIX

XXXIX

xli xlvi

I

liii liii liv Iv

lvii lvii lvii

lviii

xviii Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis

F. Effective Energy F.1 Mean Energy F.2 Most Probable Energy F.3 Cross-Section Dependent F.4 Best Match

G. Radiation Counting Statistics G.1 Poisson Statistics

G.1.1 Mean and Variance G.1.2 Population Statistics

G.2 Gross/Background Count Rates G.2.1 Net Count Rate G.2.2 Number of Measurements and Counting Period

G.3 Goodness of Data G.4 Current-Mode Statistics G.5 Elemental Error

References

About the Author

Application Index

Index

lxi lxi

lxii lxii lxii

lxv lxv

lxvi lxvii

lxviii lxviii

lxix lxx

lxxii lxxv

lxxvii

clxxxvi

clxxxix

cxcix

Preface

The need for this book arose from my teaching, engineering, and re­search experience in the non-power aspects of nuclear technology. The lack of a comprehensive textbook in industrial applications of radiation frustrated my students, who had to resort to a multitude of textbooks and research publications to familiarize themselves with the fundamen­tal and practical aspects of radiation technology. As an engineer, I had to acquire the design aspects of radiation devices by trial-and-error, and often by accidental reading of a precious publication. As a researcher and a supervisor of graduate students, I found that the needed literature was either hard to find, or too scattered and diverse. More than once, I discovered that what appeared to be an exciting new idea was an old concept that was tried a few decades earlier during the golden era of "Atom for Peace". I am hoping, therefore, that this book will serve as a single comprehensive reference source in a growing field that I expect will continue to expand.

This book is directed to both neophytes and experts, and is written to combine the old and the new, the basic and the advanced, the simple and the complex. It is anticipated that this book will be of help in re­viving older concepts, improving and expanding existing techniques and promoting the development of new ones. Hopefully, the consolidation of this material in one book will incite wider use and application of this powerful and useful technology. Therefore, the book is intended to be a single handy source of information for students, instructors, current and potential users of radiation technology, and its design engineers and researchers.

The book is divided into four parts to accommodate a wide spec­trum of readers. Part I deals with the fundamental aspects of radiation sources, physics and detection, and is particularly helpful for students who are not familiar with nuclear and atomic radiation. Part II is di-

XIX

xx Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis

rected to industrial physicists and engineers, as it provides an exposition of the different ways (techniques) by which radiation can be used to meet industrial measurement needs. Part III presents a large number of spe­cific industrial applications. In order to assist the reader, an application index is given at the end of the book, identifying the areas in which radiation techniques are utilized. Those who would like to design a new device, or improve or alter an existing system, can refer to Part IV.

This book can serve both as a reference book and as a textbook. To assist readers in searching and locating specific information, two separate indices are provided, paragraphs are given titles, and wide use is made of cross-referencing. Extensive literature is cited, and references are listed in detail. Three one-semester courses can be based on this book. The first part of the book, along with appendices C, D, E and G, can be used in an introductory course on radiation fundamentals to students with no or little background in atomic and nuclear physics. Part II, introduced by Chapter 1 and supplemented by appendix F, can serve as a course on nondestructive examination and imaging with radiation, assisted by example applications from Part III. A design course can be based on Part IV, with design projects assigned for systems described in Part III. For a set of problems and solutions, instructors can contact the author bye-mail athussein@unb.ca. The author welcomes any comments and suggestions for inclusion in future revisions of this book.

ESAM M. A. HUSSEIN

Acknowledgments

Dr. John H. Hubbell has given me the great honor of writing the "Foreword" to the book, and provided viable comments and suggestions. Dr. Hubbell needs no introduction; researchers, practitioners and stu­dents of x- and gamma-rays are all familiar with his comprehensive work and tables on photon cross sections.

The concept of this work was formulated through discussions with esteemed colleagues: Dr. Ned Kondic (formerly with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission) in the late 1980's, and Dr. Richard C. Lanza (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Prof. Nares Chankow (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand) in the nineties. Although writ­ing this manuscript was a solo endeavor, it would not have been possible without the effort of all the authors whose work is cited in the book. Mr. P. Jacob Arsenault, Mr. Hassan A. Jama, Dr. Edward J. Waller and Dr. Han Yaar, of the Laboratory for Threat Material Detection at University of New Brunswick (UNB), thankfully read some chapters and provided useful suggestions.

The prompt and professional response of the staff of the UNB Libraries, particularly at the Engineering Library and the Document Delivery Department, made it possible for me to readily access the needed literature. This book was written using Jb.'IEX, based on MiK'IEX platform, with WinTeX 2000 as the interfacing editor.

Finally a personal note to my wonderful children Mahmoud and Amina: without your love, forbearance, patience and understanding, the completion of this work would not have been possible.

xxi

Foreword

In browsing through a draft copy of this two-volume "how-to" desk reference on virtually all aspects of the use of photon and corpuscular radiations in the interrogation of materials and structures, I found the presentation format to be unique and useful. Although the variety and comprehensiveness is akin to a topical encyclopedia, the presentation reminded me of a thesaurus, in which the subtopics are not sequenced alphabetically, but, similar to in a thesaurus, are sequenced in a logical progression. Then, going "Roget" one better, at the end of the book are found not one, but two alphabetized indexes, first an "application index" and finally a conventional index alphabetically listing key words and their page numbers from throughout the text.

In Volume One (Basics and Techniques), following a brief Chap­ter 1 (Introduction) surveying the unique features of radiation inter­rogation, often the only available tool for some NDE (nondestructive evaluation) challenges, Part I (Basics) begins this logical progression, in Chapter 2 (Radiation Types and Sources), with the definitions and nature of the various available radiations and how they can be obtained, then progressing in Chapter 3 (Modifying Physics) to the basic underly­ing physical processes by which these different radiations interact with atoms and with bulk materials. Part I concludes with a virtual Baedeker to the many types of radiation detectors and their underlying principles in Chapter 4 (Detection Methods) and a briefer Chapter 5 (Radiation Safety) addressing both common-sense and mandatory regulatory con­cerns.

In Part II (Techniques) the logical topical progression continues in Chapter 6 (Transmission Methods) with a comprehensive array of topics ranging from time-honored film radiography to the mathematical intricacies of tomography to the esoteric application of Mossbauer spec­trometry. Chapters 7 (Scattering Methods), 8 (Emission Methods) and

xxiii

xxiv Radiation Probing, Gauging, Imaging and Analysis

9 (Absorption Methods) similarly provide encyclopedic coverage of the available methods and techniques in each of these categories.

Volume Two (Applications and Design) brings the above wealth of "why?" and "how-to" information "into the real world" beginning in Part III (Applications) with an introductory Chapter 10 (Probing, Inspection and Monitoring) with topics ranging from the function of the alpha-particle sources in most smoke detectors (such as the ones in my home) to monitoring package-filling in opaque containers. This is followed by Chapter 11 (Gauging) listing and exhaustively discussing the otherwise-difficult-or-impossible interrogations of bulk density, thick­ness, porosity and voidage, moisture content, fluid flow and finally dating including with carbon-14 (geological time scales), tritium (short term, such as for ground waters) and the use of thermoluminescence for TL dating (archeological time scales).

Chapter 12 (Elemental and Content Analysis) continues the logical progression of subtopics including nucleus-based analysis (e.g., activa­tion analysis), atom-based analysis (e.g., x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, XRFS), hydrogen measurement (mostly by neutrons), and material con­tent analysis (e.g., applications of the above-mentioned Mossbauer spec­troscopy). Concluding Part III, Chapter 13 (Imaging) catalogs and pro­vides detailed information on the many different kinds of photon radiog­raphy, on neutron and charged-particle radiography, on tomography and on imaging for material content such as in dual-energy imaging.

Finally, in Part IV (Design) the author shares the experiences and knowledge accumulated in his long and distinguished teaching and re­search career, much of it involved in synthesizing the above material into the invention, production and putting into practice a significant fraction of the above principles and devices for carrying out NDE tasks. Thus, Chapter 14 (Performance Parameters and Design Aspects) opens Part IV with material on performance parameters, statistical optimization, de­sign objectives, and source, technique, and detection system selections, followed by Chapter 15 (Source Modulation) with collimation consider­ations, filtration, and for neutrons, both moderation and multiplication.

The book's logical topical progression continues in Chapter 16 (Design Calculations) with subtopics on Monte Carlo simulations, and shielding requirements in the differing cases of x-ray machines, isotopic gamma sources, and for neutron sources. Finally, Chapter 17 (Experiments) treats the important considerations of licensing, background reduction and dynamic analysis to verify that the device will indeed perform its intended function, and the brief Chapter 18 (Finalization) discusses pro­totyping and intellectual property protection (trade secrets, copyright, tradernarks and patents).

xxv

Volume Two closes with several appendices providing valuable in­formation including (A) Basic Units and Constants, (B) List (alpha­betically) of Elements and Natural Isotopes, (C) Relativistic Mechan­ics, (D) Quantum Mechanics, including the Schrodinger equation and the concept of cross-section, (E) Nuclear/Atomic Parameters for Com­pounds and Mixtures, (F) Effective Energy, and finally (G) Radiation Counting Statistics, including Poisson statistics, mean and variance. Following the appendices is the listing of the 1373 references includ­ing full titles and inclusive page numbers, followed in turn by the two indexes mentioned, an Application Index and a conventional Index con­cluding this monumental and uniquely useful "encyclopedic/thesauric" guide and companion through the thickets of radiation nondestructive probing, gauging, imaging and analysis.

John H. Hubbell Ionizing Radiation Division "Emeritus" National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, Maryland USA October 31, 2002