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Today we can see inside seemingly impossible places thanks to muon imaging. This technique uses muons, which can penetrate far deeper than possible with x rays. But this process is also slow. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are working to change that with a new initiative called Intense and Compact Muon Sources for Science and Security (ICMuS2).
Partnering with industry and academic researchers, the initiative seeks to rapidly generate these particles using high power lasers. The project is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Muons for Science and Security Program.
An instrument designed and built by LLNL researchers departed Earth last week on a two-billion-mile, nearly six-year journey through space to explore a rare, largely metal asteroid.
The Livermore high-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray sensor is an essential part of a larger gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) built in collaboration with researchers from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHAPL) in Laurel, Maryland. It is part of a suite of instruments set to make the first-ever visit to Psyche, the largest metal asteroid in the solar system. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University (ASU).
Training realistically to respond to the threat of radiological terrorism is a real problem. Using actual radiological materials to train federal, state, and local agencies who detect and respond to these threats is extremely expensive, adds risk, and can’t replicate many of the scenarios of concern. LLNL’s Radiation Field Training Simulator (RaFTS) is a programmable device that injects realistic radiation source signals into suitably adapted operational radiation detection and identification devices (spectrometers). RaFTS enables highly realistic scenarios to simulate truly hazardous situations but without the need, expense or risks of using actual radiological material. In 2020, RaFTS was licensed by Argon Electronics Ltd (UK) to add significant capability to their line of CBRN hazard simulators.