Narrator: This is Science Today. The ORTEC Fission Meter is the
first portable neutron detector that can distinguish between
fissile and non-fissile neutron sources in real time. The
suitcase-sized detector uses technology developed by researchers
at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Staff physicist
Phil Kerr describes how it can be used. Kerr: There typically is
a program called reach back, where first responders might have a
smaller detector that maybe detects neutrons and/or gamma rays.
They can report some suspicious event or some suspicious package
or maybe a facility that has elevated count rate. They can then
send that application to the reach back, which are groups of
people that are generally located within the national laboratory
system. If that information indicates that there may be
something there that is of interest, such as a neutron source or
a gamma ray source that really shouldn't be there, a team would
go out and they would carry a number of pieces of equipment -
the fission meter