MoMIS - Mobile Muon Imaging System

我们已经习惯了技术可以让世界变得透明的想法。我们第一次见到孩子是在超声波照片上。CT和MRI扫描使我们能够诊断疾病并优化治疗。我们的愿景是将这种透明性扩展到桥梁和其他民用结构，并且不需要任何额外的人工辐射源。我们还看到了核安全方面的重要应用，特别是在核查保障监督方面，高能宇宙射线进入大气层产生大量粒子，其中一些粒子一直到达地球表面。这些粒子是μ子--类似于电子但重200倍的基本粒子。它们的典型能量比X射线高约10，000倍，这使得它们具有高度穿透性-事实上它们可以穿过几米的岩石，混凝土或钢铁。有了正确的检测系统，可以跟踪进入和离开的μ子，它们可以用来创建屏蔽容器或混凝土中钢筋内容的3D图像（又名μ子断层图像）。由于μ子具有很强的穿透性，因此μ子成像可以“看到”比其他非破坏性测试技术（如超声或探地雷达）更厚的材料，这些技术通常限于约30厘米。因此，μ子成像是健康和安全中性的，因此也不需要特别许可。在给定的面积和时间内，宇宙射线μ子比CAT扫描中的X射线光子少得多。这意味着测量需要数小时或数天，而不是数秒。因此，μ子成像的实际应用的特别好的候选者是那些时间不严格的，涉及大量屏蔽或发生在公共场所的，其中允许主动方法μ子成像或μ照相术已经用于许多不同的应用，从核废料容器上的火山学到埃及胡夫金字塔内的“大空洞”的发现。Lynkeos Technology Ltd.一家格拉斯哥大学的分拆公司，已成功获得CE认证，并于2018年10月在塞拉菲尔德安装了μ子成像系统。Sellalfield的Lynkeos MIS是TRL 8的静态μ子断层扫描系统。在2019/20年度苏格兰企业的支持下进行的市场研究表明，移动的μ子成像系统有更大的市场，特别是在土木工程背景下的无损检测。格拉斯哥大学与德国联邦材料科学与测试研究所（BAM）合作进行的测试测量已经证明了土木工程测试对象的可行性。在原子能机构保障专题讨论会上展示了核查干燥储存桶内容物的蒙特卡罗模拟。μ子成像成为民用工程和核安全的实用方法的关键一步是创建实用的移动的μ子成像系统。该系统应简单而坚固，具有足够分辨率和效率的探测器，同时是便携式和户外防护的。到目前为止，没有满足这些要求的移动的μ子断层摄影系统存在。该提案的目标是设计和建造这样一个系统，更具体地说，是这样一个系统的小规模原型-尽管其尺寸已经对某些应用有用，并且可以在现实环境中进行测试。该研究将在格拉斯哥大学与Lynkeos Technology，BAM，Babcock和斯旺西大学合作进行。

We have grown used to the idea that technology can make the world transparent. The first time we see our children is on an ultrasound picture. CT and MRI scans allow us to diagnose illnesses and optimize treatment. Our vision is to extend this transparency to bridges and other civil structures and to do so without any additional, artificial radiation source. We also see important applications in nuclear security, in particular in verification for safeguards.High-energy cosmic rays that enter the atmosphere create large showers of particles and some of these particles reach all the way down to the Earth's surface. These particles are muons - elementary particles similar to electrons but 200 times as heavy. Their typical energy is about 10,000 times higher than that of X-rays, which makes them highly penetrating - in fact they can pass through meters of rock, concrete or steel. With the right kind of detection system, that tracks the incoming and the outgoing muons, they can be used to create 3D images (aka muon tomograms) of the contents of shielded containers or of steel reinforcements in concrete. Because muons are highly penetrating, muon imaging can 'see' through larger thicknesses of material than other non-destructive testing techniques like ultrasound or ground-penetrating radar that are typically limited to about 30 cm.Muons occur naturally and the technique does not use any artificial radiation and is entirely passive. Muon imaging therefore is health-and-safety neutral and therefore also does not require special permits. There are a lot less cosmic-ray muons per given area and time than there are e.g. X-ray photons in a CAT scan. This means that measurements take hours or days, not seconds. Especially good candidates for practical applications of muon imaging therefore a those that are not time critical, that involve a lot of shielding or that take place in public spaces, where permits for active methods (e.g. involving gamma sources) would be difficult to obtain.Muon imaging, or muography, has already been used for many different applications, ranging from volcanology over nuclear waste containers to the discovery of a 'big void' within the Khufu pyramid in Egypt. Lynkeos Technology Ltd., a University of Glasgow spin-off company, has successfully CE-certified and installed a muon imaging system at Sellafield in October 2018. The Lynkeos MIS at Sellalfield is a static muon tomography system at TRL 8. Market research carried out with support from Scottish Enterprise in 2019/20 has shown that there is a larger market for a mobile muon imaging system, especially for non-destructive testing in a civil engineering context. Test measurements at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with the German Federal Institute for Material Science and Testing (BAM) have demonstrated the feasibility on a civil engineering test object. Monte Carlo simulations of the verification of the contents of a dry storage cask have been shown at the IAEA Safeguards Symposium. The crucial step for muon imaging to become a practical method in civil engineering and nuclear security is the creation of a practical mobile muon imaging system. This system should be simple and robust, have detectors with sufficient resolution and efficiency, and at the same time be portable and outdoor-proof. Up to now no mobile muon tomography system exists that fulfils these requirements. The objective of this proposal is the design and construction of just such a system, more specifically a small-scale prototype for such a system - albeit of a size that is already useful for some applications and that can be tested in a realistic environment.The research will be carried out at the University of Glasgow, in collaboration with Lynkeos Technology, BAM, Babcock, and Swansea University.