Speaker
Description
Muon tomography research at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories continues to expand through both applied investigations and detector development activities. As part of legacy waste characterization at the Perch Lake site, a sealed 80-kg steel pail containing a dense internal object was examined using the Muon Portable Imager for Counter-terrorism (MuPIC). Conventional imaging methods, including gamma-ray measurements and x-ray radiography, were unable to penetrate the object, motivating the use of muon scattering tomography. MuPIC was deployed to a waste-characterization facility to collect data on the target, enabling reconstruction of the internal structure and revealing a high-density cylindrical flask with an inner cavity. Estimates based on scattering density measurements indicate material properties consistent with lead, and no evidence of high-Z inclusions was observed within the void region, reducing concern regarding potential hazardous radiological contents. In parallel, commissioning and benchmarking studies were conducted for a Micromegas-based muon tracking system integrated into the MuPIC tower. A structured lead-brick target was scanned simultaneously with both detectors, providing the first direct comparison of two different tracking technologies operating on the same data set. Using a common Point-of-Closest-Approach reconstruction, Micromegas demonstrated improved image contrast and reduced reconstruction noise relative to MuPIC, attributable to its finer position resolution. These results support further development of Micromegas-enabled scattering density estimation and expanded benchmarking activities with CRIPT and future reconstruction algorithms.