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Low Cost, Large Volume 3He Replacement Neutron Detector

Award Information
Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Branch: N/A
Contract: HSHQDC-10-C-00165
Agency Tracking Number: 1011017
Amount: $149,999.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: 10.1-2
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 2010
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2010-08-26
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2011-03-01
Small Business Information
44 Hunt Street
Watertown, MA 02472
United States
DUNS: 073804411
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Vivek Nagarkar
 (617) 668-6810
 VNagarkar@RMDInc.com
Business Contact
 Nancy Marshall
Phone: (617) 668-6810
Email: NMarshall@RMDInc.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Nuclear instrumentation for the detection of thermal neutrons relies heavily upon 3He because of its desirable nuclear properties and physical characteristics. The decline in production combined with increased demand has depleted the 3He stockpile and the supply of 3He is presently insufficient for US needs. The proposed effort seeks to address this problem by developing detector technology to
help replace the existing generation of 3He-based instrumentation with detectors that use other neutron-sensitive material such as lithium. The Phase I prototype will comprise multiple sandwiched layers of converter/scintillator pairs connected to readout pulse
processing electronics. Completion of the prototype and testing will demonstrate a path to attain at least 50 percent thermal neutron detection efficiency and gamma ray rejection rates of at least 10-5. The detectors will be designed to match the performance
specification of existing 3He detectors in terms of overall neutron detection efficiency and gamma-ray rejection. Moreover, the instruments can be inexpensively scaled to cover large surface areas to be applied in both neutron scattering research as well as
homeland security screening applications. Large detectors are most critical for advancement in these areas and face the greatest risk of cancellation or curtailment due to the shortage of 3He.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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