| 主权项 |
1. An apparatus for inspecting the contents of a cargo container, comprising:
a neutron source comprising:
an ion source configured to provide deuterium or tritium ions;an accelerator operatively coupled to the ion source to define an accelerator/ion source region, the accelerator operating at a first gas pressure and configured to receive the deuterium or tritium ions and accelerate the deuterium or tritium ions;a gaseous target system operatively coupled to the accelerator, the gaseous target system comprising a target chamber operating at a second gas pressure, higher than the first gas pressure, the target chamber holding a target gas comprising at least one of deuterium or tritium; anda plurality of differential pumping stages, each stage configured to reduce a pressure in the neutron source by a factor of between 10 and 1000 to maintain a first pressure differential between an outside atmosphere and the ion source/accelerator region, a second pressure differential between the outside atmosphere and the gaseous target system, and a third pressure differential between the ion source/accelerator region and the gaseous target system; and a radiation detector; wherein the neutron source is configured to deliver a neutron flux into the container and the radiation detector is configured to detect radiation exiting the container subsequent to the delivery of the neutron flux into the container. |
