Patent ID: 8373133

Claim:
A water Cerenkov-based neutron and high energy gamma ray detector comprising: an optically opaque enclosure surrounding a detection chamber filled with a Cerenkov radiator comprising water doped with a Gadolinium (Gd)-based compound; a plurality of photomultipliers optically connected to the detection chamber to detect Cerenkov radiation generated by the Cerenkov radiator from incident high energy gamma rays or gamma rays induced by neutron capture on the Gd of incident neutrons from a fission source wherein the photomultipliers are immersed in the water doped with the Gd-based compound; mu-metal shielding surrounding the enclosure and the photomultipliers to shield the photomultipliers from magnetic fields; and means for determining time correlations in the detected Cerenkov radiation indicative of neutron multiplicity events characteristic of a fission source.