The development of a passive fiber optic sensor system for remote monitoring in low energy gamma environments

A passive fiber optic sensor system (PFOSS) capable of verifying the presence of stored special nuclear materials is being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This system is being developed to reduce the costs, effort, and the exposure of employees associated with inventorying stockpiles of highly enriched uranium at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant. Through its research programs in scintillating materials, ORNL has developed a variety of material configurations for use in alpha-, beta-, gamma- and neutron sensitive scintillator detectors. In addition, several concepts that arose from the innovative work with scintillating fiber optics, wavelength-shifting fibers, and plastic scintillators associated with the Superconducting Super Collider are being considered for incorporation into PFOSS