Detection of explosive remnants of war by neutron thermalisation

F D Brooks; M Drosg; F D Smit; C Wikner

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.07.006

Detection of explosive remnants of war by neutron thermalisation

Appl Radiat Isot. 2012 Jan;70(1):119-27. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.07.006. Epub 2011 Jul 29.

Authors

F D Brooks¹, M Drosg, F D Smit, C Wikner

Affiliation

¹ Department of Physics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa. frank.brooks@uct.ac.za

PMID: 21865050
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.07.006

Abstract

The HYDAD-D landmine detector (Brooks and Drosg, 2005) has been modified and field-tested for 17 months in a variety of soil conditions. Test objects containing about the same mass of hydrogen (20g) as small explosive remnants of war, such as antipersonnel landmines, were detected with efficiency 100% when buried at cover depths up to 10cm. The false alarm rate under the same conditions was 9%. Plots of detection efficiency versus false alarm rate are presented.

MeSH terms

Explosive Agents / analysis*
Neutron Activation Analysis / instrumentation*
Neutron Activation Analysis / methods
Neutrons*
Soil / analysis*
Transducers*
Warfare*
Weapons*

Substances

Explosive Agents
Soil