A method for assaying a wall of a pressure tube for a nuclear reactor is disclosed. The wall has a matrix material and deuterium nuclei in the matrix material. The method includes: (a) transmitting gamma rays into the matrix material to induce photodisintegration of at least some of the deuterium nuclei, whereby reaction particles of the nuclei are emitted from the wall; (b) detecting at least some of the reaction particles emitted in step (a) using a particle detector; and (c) generating particle signals in response to detecting the particles in step (b).

A nondestructive inspection apparatus makes a neutron beam incident on an inspection target, detects a specific gamma ray deriving from a target component in the inspection target, among gamma rays generated by the neutron beam, and determines a depth at which the target component exists, based on a result of the detecting. The nondestructive inspection apparatus includes a neutron source that emits a neutron beam to a surface of the inspection target, a gamma ray detection device that detects, as detection intensities, intensities of a plurality of types of specific gamma rays whose energy differs from each other, and a ratio calculation unit that determines a ratio between the detection intensities of a plurality of types of the specific gamma rays.

The invention relates to a method for characterizing a sample, by estimating a plurality of characteristic thicknesses, each being associated with a calibration material, comprising the following steps:

acquiring an energy spectrum (S.sup.ech) transmitted through this sample, located in an X and/or gamma spectral band, naled spectrum transmitted through the sample;

for each spectrum of a plurality of calibration spectra (S.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.l)), calculating a likelihood from said calibration spectrum (S.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.l)), and from the spectrum transmitted through the sample (S.sup.ech), each calibration spectrum (S.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.l)) corresponding to the energy spectrum transmitted through a stack of gauge blocks, each formed of a known thickness of a calibration material;

estimating the characteristic thicknesses (L.sub.1, L.sub.2) associated with the sample according to the criterion of maximum likelihood.

The invention relates to a method for characterizing a sample, by estimating a plurality of characteristic thicknesses, each being associated with a calibration material, comprising the following steps:

acquiring an energy spectrum (S.sup.ech) transmitted through this sample, located in an X and/or gamma spectral band, naled spectrum transmitted through the sample;

for each spectrum of a plurality of calibration spectra (S.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.l)), calculating a likelihood from said calibration spectrum (S.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.l)), and from the spectrum transmitted through the sample (S.sup.ech), each calibration spectrum (S.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.l)) corresponding to the energy spectrum transmitted through a stack of gauge blocks, each formed of a known thickness of a calibration material;

estimating the characteristic thicknesses (L.sub.1, L.sub.2) associated with the sample according to the criterion of maximum likelihood.

Provided are an optical sensor and an analyzer, including an optical sensor section in which a cladding layer of an optical fiber is removed so as to expose a core layer by a predetermined optical path length, and a protective material is added to a surface of the exposed core layer, the protective material having higher resistance to an organic solvent, base, or acid than that of the cladding layer; a light source device that causes light to enter one end of the optical fiber; a light receiving device that receives transmitted light emitted from another end of the optical fiber; and a control device that controls the light source device and the light receiving device to measure optical transmittance in the optical sensor based on a ratio of intensity of the light emitted from the light source device to intensity of the light received by the light receiving device.

Provided are an optical sensor and an analyzer, including an optical sensor section in which a cladding layer of an optical fiber is removed so as to expose a core layer by a predetermined optical path length, and a protective material is added to a surface of the exposed core layer, the protective material having higher resistance to an organic solvent, base, or acid than that of the cladding layer; a light source device that causes light to enter one end of the optical fiber; a light receiving device that receives transmitted light emitted from another end of the optical fiber; and a control device that controls the light source device and the light receiving device to measure optical transmittance in the optical sensor based on a ratio of intensity of the light emitted from the light source device to intensity of the light received by the light receiving device.

An x-ray interferometric imaging system in which the x-ray source comprises a target having a plurality of structured coherent sub-sources of x-rays embedded in a thermally conducting substrate. The system additionally comprises a beam-splitting grating G.sub.1 that establishes a Talbot interference pattern, which may be a π phase-shifting grating, and an x-ray detector to convert two-dimensional x-ray intensities into electronic signals. The system may also comprise a second analyzer grating G.sub.2 that may be placed in front of the detector to form additional interference fringes, a means to translate the second grating G.sub.2 relative to the detector. The system may additionally comprise an antiscattering grid to reduce signals from scattered x-rays. Various configurations of dark-field and bright-field detectors are also disclosed.

A measurement processing device used for an x-ray inspection apparatus that detects an x-ray passing through a specimen with a detection unit to sequentially inspect a plurality of specimens on the basis of an acquired transmission image, includes a setting unit that sets a region to be inspected on a portion of the specimen; a determination unit that determines the non-defectiveness of the region to be inspected by using a transmission image of the x-ray that passed through the region to be inspected; a correction unit that performs a correction on the region to be inspected on the basis of a determination result by the determination unit; and a display control unit that displays the corrected region to be inspected corrected by the correction unit.

This disclosure relates to monitoring and assessing the mechanical stability and fluid accumulation in natural or man-made slopes comprising primarily of unconsolidated material, such as embankments, dams, roads, waste dumps, as well as man-made heaps of bulk materials that may occur in the stockpiling of grains, gravel, stones, sand, coal, cement, fly ash, salts, chemicals, clays, crushed limestone as well as heaps of mining ores, including crushed, milled and/or agglomerated ore, and run-of-mine materials.

A method for characterizing a sample, by estimating a plurality of characteristic thicknesses, each being associated with a calibration material, including acquiring an energy spectrum (S.sup.ech) transmitted through this sample, located in an X and/or gamma spectral band; for each spectrum of a plurality of calibration spectra (s.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.t)) calculating a likelihood from said calibration spectrum (S.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.t)), and from the spectrum transmitted through the sample (S.sup.ech), each calibration spectrum (S.sup.base(L.sub.k; L.sub.t)) corresponding to the energy spectrum transmitted through a stack of gauge blocks, each formed of a known thickness of a calibration material; estimating the characteristic thicknesses (L.sub.1, L.sub.2) associated with the sample according to the criterion of maximum likelihood.