Experiments and Monte Carlo modeling of a higher resolution Cadmium Zinc Telluride detector for safeguards applications

Abstract

The Belgian Nuclear Research Centre is engaged in R&D activity in the field of Non Destructive Analysis on nuclear materials, with focus on spent fuel characterization. A 500 mm3 Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) with enhanced resolution was recently purchased. With a full width at half maximum of 1.3% at 662 keV, the detector is very promising in view of its use for applications such as determination of uranium enrichment and plutonium isotopic composition, as well as measurement on spent fuel. In this paper, I report about the work done with such a detector in terms of its characterization. The detector energy calibration, peak shape and efficiency were determined from experimental data. The data included measurements with calibrated sources, both in a bare and in a shielded environment. In addition, Monte Carlo calculations with the MCNPX code were carried out and benchmarked with experiments.