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DOE OSTI · 3013786

Hyperspectral x-ray imaging mapping capabilities for nuclear forensics

Carpenter, Matthew Hollis [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000292133614)·Stark, Emily Nicole [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000227252270)·McNeel, Daniel George [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000252969193)·Dede, Stefania [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000341553966)·Godt, Christopher James [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0009000182816868)·Kurtz, Eli Samuel Rowan [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0009000430998542)·Jackson, Daniel Erik [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000308473681)·Tenner, Travis Jay [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000156544232)·Naes, Benjamin Elliot [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000161739552)·Wurth, Kimberly Nicole [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000346545121)·Wagner, Gregory Lawrence [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000278527529)·Croce, Mark Philip [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000204690673)
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Abstract

Nuclear forensics relies on the integration of complementary signatures to constrain the origins and history of materials. Outcomes benefit from the timeliness and precision of the disparate methods that form typical analysis chains. Sample forms are often either minute in quantity or contain signatures like morphology or composition heterogeneity encoded on a microscale, so many analysis techniques focus on resolving signatures on ever-smaller length scales. The new hyperspectral x-ray imaging (HXI) instrument developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory seeks to improve the information available from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) x-ray spectrum analysis through superior spectral energy resolution vs. typical energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) systems in common use in nuclear forensics and other microanalysis fields. Based on arrays of transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter detectors, this instrument achieves a typical energy resolution of 7 eV full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) at 2 keV, opening new possibilities in trace element detection/analysis and chemical state determination through spectral shape shifts. We present here some of the first applications of the HXI instrument to actinide samples and discuss potential maturation of this nascent technology for future analysis pipelines.

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11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTIONEDSMicrocalorimeter SpectrometerNuclear Fuel CycleSEMX-ray Emission Spectroscopy

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Carpenter, Matthew Hollis [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000292133614), Stark, Emily Nicole [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000227252270), McNeel, Daniel George [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000252969193), Dede, Stefania [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000341553966), Godt, Christopher James [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0009000182816868), Kurtz, Eli Samuel Rowan [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0009000430998542), Jackson, Daniel Erik [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000308473681), Tenner, Travis Jay [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000156544232), Naes, Benjamin Elliot [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000161739552), Wurth, Kimberly Nicole [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000346545121), Wagner, Gregory Lawrence [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000278527529), Croce, Mark Philip [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000204690673). 2025-09-03. Hyperspectral x-ray imaging mapping capabilities for nuclear forensics. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnuen.2025.1621780

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