Q As.2.6.13.pdf

No. Question DNDO Response

Regarding HSHQDC-13-R-B0002 and HSHQDC-13-R-B0001:

We are a UARC affiliated with an academic institution, whose defined core competencies fall within the CFP and BAA subject areas. Is it allowable for the UARC and the academic instittuion to submit identical White Papers under both or does DHS DNDO prefer we submit only to one?

DNDO would prefer only one. If submitting as a UARC, submit following the guidance in the CFP. If submitting as an academic institution, submit following the guidance in the BAA.

RTA-06 mentions the development of "active interrogation" systems but appears to only seek component and/or enabling technology development for photon-based radiography systems by noting that avoiding neutron production within both the source and scanned environment is a consideration. Does this mean that RTA- 06 is not interested in the development of systems that use neutron and/or gamma-rays for the detection of special nuclear material by stimulating fission in said material?

This topic is seeking supporting technology that enables radiographic and active detection of SNM even under conditions of extremely attenuating rail cargos.

Enabling research supporting neutron radiography/interrogation or other concepts that can meet the requirements of this topic could be considered.

Is it correct to say that scintillation materials that support neutron detection but provide gamma energy resolution poorer than 20% are not of interest under RTA- 02?

Correct

Is RTA-03 geared only at novel developments of the readout devices themselves, or also in novel ways to use such readout devices to readout scintillators? Using the example of silicon photomultipliers: are you interested only in novel silicon photomultipliers, or are you equally interested in innovative ways to mate scintillators with silicon multipliers, thereby achieving substantially better performance?

As requested in the BAA, "Proposals should also consider how the proposed approach will optimize light collection from scintillator materials to include means of effective optical coupling."

Under RTA-03, would an actual product prototype that successfully uses COTS silicon photomultipliers to achieve significant performance increases compared to the state of the art be of interest?

This is a solicitation for research with the goal of improving light collection and processing from scintillator materials. Although development of a proof-of-concept prototype may be an aspect of this research, the research should proceed in a phased approach as discussed in section 3.1 of the BAA.

6 Is it correct to say that active interrogation technologies involving neutron generators are explicitly excluded from RTA-06? No. See response for question 2.

In RTA-02 the BAA asks for low-cost scintillators as a topic, and RTA-01 asks for higher-performance semiconductors as another topic. To which topic would a higher-performance Scintillator be appropriately submitted? Or alternatively, a low-cost semiconductor?

High performance scintillators that have low cost may be submitted under topic RTA-2. Low cost semiconductor materials with high performance may be submitted under RTA-1.

In RTA-03 the BAA asks for new read-out devices for scintillators as a topic, and RTA-01 asks for higher-performance semiconductors as another topic. To which topic would a new read-out device for semiconductors be appropriately submitted?

Read-out electronics for semiconductor detectors are not encompassed by either RTA-1 or RTA-3.

Are you soliciting the development of neutron generators and/or active interrogation systems based on neutron generators? If so, under what Exploratory Research Topic?

There is no specific topic to solicit developing neutron generators. See response for question 2. Offerors wishing to submit a novel concept not specific to a topic should submit it against the topic most aligned to the proposed research activity.

10 The announced penetration requirement for rail cargo scanning system is 90 cm of steel. Is it correct?

Notionally for the BAA, we estimated a penetration requirement for rail cargo at equivalent of 90 cm of steel.

11 How many Z determination groups are required? In other words: what is the required Z-resolution?

We would consider Z>72 for high-Z including SNM and materials Z<72 are benign for SNM detection. However, if you are able to determine Z for contraband in Z<72 region, we are interested in the capability.

12 What is the range of object thicknesses (in steel equivalent) where Z determination is required?

The offeror should provide a recommendation of what the thickness of object would be detected based on their capability.

For RTA-05: Highly Mobile Radiographic Imaging System with Dose Mitigation - Can the system be installed in one or more trucks or sea-land containers, or is a palletized system that requires assembly at the deployment site preferable?

As stated in the BAA, the idealized system must be highly mobile, have minimal set-up time, be capable of transit through and operation within urban environments, and be capable of imaging an object as large as a truck. Any approach that would eventually meet these requirements would be acceptable.

For RTA-05: Highly Mobile Radiographic Imaging System with Dose Mitigation - Is the 80 cm/sec speed a 1D raster speed (i.e. scan one line at 80 cm/sec then increment to the next line) or is it the desired throughput for the entire object height (i.e., all lines at 80 cm/sec)?

The 80 cm/sec is the speed of the object traversing through the imaging system.

The entire object height must be scanned at this rate.

For RTA-06: Enabling Technologies to Support Rail Cargo Scanning - For clarity, what is the reason for the prohibition on the use of neutrons? Is it a criticality concern, a neutron activation concern, or other concern?

See response for question 2.

For RTA-06: Enabling Technologies to Support Rail Cargo Scanning - Could neutrons be used in a stage of a radiation source if sufficiently shielded? See response for question 2.

Questions for BAA13-101 and CFP13-100: Exploratory Research

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