Principles and applications of gamma-ray imaging for arms control

The ability of gamma-rays to penetrate matter makes them an excellent signature for the detection of nuclear materials-except that this very ability makes their detection difficult. This is particularly true if one wishes to make images, since general-purpose focusing optics do not exist. Various indirect imaging techniques have been successfully applied to obtain gamma-ray images, including Compton and coded-aperture imaging. This paper reviews the different approaches, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages as illustrated with results obtained from different instruments designed for use in nuclear security applications.