Transformational nuclear sensors — Real-time monitoring of WMDs, risk assessment & response

Transformational nuclear particle sensor systems have been developed for detecting a variety of radiation types via interactions with ordinary fluids such as water and acetone placed under metastable states of tensioned (yes, sub-zero or below-vacuum) liquid pressures at room temperature. Advancements have resulted in the development of lab-scale prototypes which provide real-time directionality information to within 10 degrees of a neutron emitting weapons of mass destruction (WMD) source, with over 90% intrinsic efficiency, with ability to decipher multiplicity and to detect WMD-shielded neutrons in the 0.01 eV range, to unshielded neutrons in the 1-10 MeV range, and with the ability to detect alpha emitting special nuclear material (SNM) signatures to within 1-5 keV in energy resolution, and detection sensitivities to ultratrace levels (i.e., to femto-grams per cc of SNMs such as Pu, and Am). The tension metastable fluid detector (TMFD) systems are robust, and are built in the laboratory with costs in the ~$100+ range - with inherent gamma blindness capability. A multi-physics design framework (including nuclear particle transport, acoustics, structural dynamics, fluid-heat transfer, and electro-magnetics), has also been developed, and validated.