1. Nuclear Methods in Landmine Detection
The Problem: Landmines
There are nearly 50 million unexploded landmines in 60 countries around the world.
These landmines cause approximately 10,000 deaths per year.
Large portions
of land go unused
due to fear of mines.
Modern Mines:
Modern mines can be constructed with plastics and composites.
The low metal content
of mines makes
detection extremely
difficult.
A plastic mine
Current Detection Methods:
Metal Detectors
Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR)
Probing
All the methods above can The Search
be extremely dangerous.
The Solution:
Nuclear LMD
How it Works:
All explosives have
high concentrations
of both N and O.
By shooting neutrons
into the soil concentrations of N, O, and H can be determined.
If concentrations of N and O are high in a particular area, there is likely an explosive.
Future Detectors:
… will likely be robotic and combine nuclear detection techniques with GPR and GPS.
This combination will allow for extreme accuracy and speed with minimal false alarms.
The Physics:
The detector uses both thermal and fast neutrons to cause gamma ray emissions from
N, O, and H.
A gamma ray spectrometer can then be
used to determine if the concentrations of
N and O are high.
The neutrons can be
produced by either D-T
fusion or radioisotopes.
Other Applications:
Airport Security
The same technology used in nuclear LMD can also be used to scan luggage in airports
This technology will allow faster and far
more accurate scanning of luggage.
Airport luggage scanner
This poster is designed to accompany a “landmine detector simulation”. This consists of a Geiger counter attached to an remote controlled car. The students can take turns using the car to look for buried “landmines” (radioactive sources) that you have hidden in a box of sand or under pieces of carpet or paper. Coupled with this poster, the activity is a great way to explain the concept of a real landmine detector (and neutron activation) to them. This event has proven very popular with students over the past few years.