Feasibility of LaBr3(Ce) detector to measure nuclear resonance fluorescence from special nuclear materials

A nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) experiment was performed on a 235U target with the quasi-monochromatic γ-ray at High Intensity γ-ray Source (HIγS) using the 1733 keV resonant energy. A LaBr3(Ce) detector array consisting of 8 cylindrical detectors, each has length of 7.62 cm and a diameter of 3.81 cm, in diameter was implemented in this measurement. Moreover, high purity germanium (HPGe) detector array consisting of 4 detectors each has a relative efficiency of 60 %, was used as a benchmark for the measurement taken by LaBr3(Ce) detector array. The integrated cross-section of the NRF level measured with LaBr3(Ce) detector showed good agreement with the available data. Consequently, LaBr3(Ce) detector could be feasible to use as a detector for the special nuclear material inspection system.