A neutron tomography facility at a low power research reactor

Neutron radiography (NR) provides a very efficient tool in the field of non-destructive testing as well as for many applications in fundamental research. A neutron beam penetrating a specimen is attenuated by the sample material and detected by a two-dimensional (2D) imaging device. The image contains information about materials and structure inside the sample because neutrons are attenuated according to the basic law of radiation attenuation. Contrary to Xrays, neutrons can be attenuated by some light materials, as for example, hydrogen and boron, but penetrate many heavy materials. Therefore, NR can yield important information not obtainable by more traditional methods. Nevertheless, there are many aspects of structure, both quantitative and qualitative, that are not accessible from 2D transmission images. Hence, there is an interest in three-dimensional neutron imaging. At the 250 kW TRIGA Mark II reactor of the Atominstitut in Austria a neutron tomography facility has been installed. The neutron flux at this beam position is 1.3 x 10(5) neutrons/cm(2)s and the beam diameter is 8 cm. For a 3D tomographic reconstruction of the sample interior, transmission images of the object taken from different view angles are required. Therefore, a rotary table driven by a step motor connected to a computerized motion control system has been installed at the sample position. In parallel a suitable electronic imaging device based on a neutron sensitive scintillator screen and a CCD-camera has been designed. It can be controlled by a computer in order to synchronize the software of the detector and of the rotary table with the aim of an automation of measurements. Reasonable exposure times can get as low as 20 s per image. This means that a complete tomography of a sample can be performed within one working day. Calculation of the 3D voxel array is made by using the filtered backprojection algorithm. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.