Home - Technology - How the Glass Works - Why Neutrons Why Neutrons Neutrons are not emitted by most radionuclides that are used for medical or industrial purposes. Radiophamaceuticals and industrial radionuclides will set off gamma sensitive alarms. No legitimate reason to possess neutron source Detecting neutrons is usually unambiguous and indicates the presence of special nuclear materials. VERY difficult to shield Shielding can even enhance the detection probability by increasing the thermalization and therefore the detection efficiency for thermal neutrons. Neutron background is small and constant Neutron background rates throughout the world are remarkably constant. They vary from 0.007 n/cm2/sec at sea level to 0.014 n/cm2/sec near facilities like the Hanford Reservation in Washington State. These background rates are quite low compared to the expected count rates from small masses of metallic, oxide or weapons grade Pu. Low false-alarm rate False positives are not acceptable when freight and people must be stopped and inspected when an alarm goes off.
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