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The University of Tennessee

Nuclear Engineering Department

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UTNE Colloquium Webcasts

The UTNE departmental colloquia, or seminars, present the opportunity for students, faculty, and guests to broaden their perspectives and "think outside the box." The colloquia usually occur on Wednesday afternoons from 1:30 to 2:30 PM. You can view the live webcast of our next colloquium by clicking on the topic below provided you have a media player such as Windows Media installed on your computer. This link will only work during the live presentation at the time indicated below. Previous colloquium presentations are archived and can be viewed at any time by clicking on Archived Webcast Presentations.

Our next colloquium is scheduled for Wednesday, February 8, 2012.

Topic:

Towards a Next Generation Associated Particle Detector
(This link is only active at the time indicated below.)

Speaker:

Joshua Cates
Doctoral Candidate
University of Tennessee
Department of Nuclear Engineering
Knoxville, Tennessee

When:

 Wednesday, February 8, 2012
1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
(Currently it is: )		  

Where:

308 Pasqua Engineering Building University of Tennessee Main Campus

Viewers of the live webcast may submit questions and/or comments to the speaker either before or during the live webcast via an email message to utne@utk.edu. The speaker will address the questions and comments at the end of the presentation. Please include your name and affiliation in your email message. Viewers who miss the live webcast can view the archived webcast, which is usually posted within 24 hours, at http://www.engr.utk.edu/nuclear/colloquia/Archive/. Viewers may also receive the speaker's slides in PDF format via email request to Kristin England (kengland@utk.edu) after the live webcast.

Abstract:

Associated Particle Imaging (API) is a unique method of active interrogation that facilitates time correlated measurements to detect, identify, and image shielded, special nuclear material. In this technique, a Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) neutron generator fires deuterons at a tritiated target to induce fusion. The products of the resulting reaction are a 3.5 MeV alpha particle and 14.1 MeV neutron, projected 180 degrees opposite of each other in the center-of-mass reference frame. The associated alpha particle can be detected by a position-sensitive photosensor that allows direction and timing information of the neutron to be inferred. The images produced with the API technique provide information that quantitatively defines material geometry, elementary information, and insight into whether the material is fissionable. Algorithms used for API require precise information on interaction position and time. For this reason, ultra-precise position and timing resolution are desired for this technique. This work discusses the analysis of a first-generation associated particle detector previously designed and implemented at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in an aim to understand design tradeoffs in position and timing resolution. Results from this analysis guide the design of a next-generation associated particle detector, and prototype detectors under development are discussed.

All students and faculty are invited to attend.
UTNE Graduate Students who hold Assistantships or Fellowships are required to attend in person

Refreshments will be provided in 219 Pasqua immediately following the colloquium.