Three-dimensional SPECT imaging with LaBr3:Ce scintillator for characterization of nuclear waste

Characterization of nuclear waste in terms of radioactivity distribution is important not only for their safe disposal but also for nuclear material accounting. Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) provides a non-invasive technique for the characterization and activity distribution of the gamma-emitting sources in a matrix. Sodium iodide scintillators, which are most commonly used, suffer from poor energy resolution and do not provide accurate peak discrimination for radioisotopes like 239Pu which have overlapping peaks. Cerium-activated lanthanum bromide (LaBr3:Ce) scintillators have better energy resolution and provide better peak discrimination. In this paper, experimental studies using LaBr3:Ce for 3D SPECT imaging of dummy waste drum has been discussed. The reconstruction has been done using the Filtered Backprojection scheme with attenuation compensation based on Novikov's inversion formula.