The use of alpha particle tagged neutrons for the inspection of objects on the sea floor for the presence of explosives

A system using a neutron sensor installed within a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for underwater inspection has been developed. The system can inspect objects for the presence of threat materials, such as explosives and chemical agents, by using alpha particle tagged neutrons from a sealed tube d+t neutron generator to produce characteristic gamma rays within the interrogated object.Here we show that the measured gamma spectra for commonly found ammunition charged with TNT explosives are dominated by C, O and Fe peaks enabling the underwater determination of explosives inside an ammunition shell.