High Z sensitivity test of the muon tomography system

As a part of 12th plan, a cosmic ray muon tomography system (MTS) is being developed at the RPC Lab, NPD, BARC, primarily to explore the possibility of nondestructive mapping and evaluation of spent nuclear fuel using cosmic ray muons. Tomography based on cosmic ray muons is proving to be an important non-destructive method to discriminate high Z material against a low Z surrounding. Precision data along with powerful algorithms allow not only discrimination but also three dimensional reconstruction of the high Z material. The envisaged tomography system consists of a stack of 6 position sensitive glass resistive plate chambers (RPC) placed inside a scintillator hodoscope. While the cosmic hodoscope provides an unambiguous muon trigger, the RPCs provide the incoming and deflected trajectories of the given muon. The deflection angle along with its projection on the X and Y planes uniquely identifies the scattering material and its dimensions. Preliminary results showing the sensitivity of the cosmic hodoscope to the presence of a block of high Z material (Pb) in the sensitive volume of the tomography system are reported here