4. Outlook and developments

Applications of the associated particle technique (APT) studied by the CEA and its partners in the field of security have demonstrated that this neutron interrogation method using fast 14 MeV neutrons can address a wide range of elemental material characterization issues, with a spatial localization capability that makes it highly complementary to photonic imaging. In particular, it provides information on the depth of interrogated objects, via neutron time-of-flight measurement, which is a useful complement to X-rays obtained with X-ray scanners for the inspection of large-volume objects, such as shipping containers.

In terms of performance, it enables us to characterize the relative proportions of the majority elements in the material being interrogated in a few minutes, in volumes whose minimum size near the neutron source is of the order of a liter. This volume...