Model Action Plan for Nuclear Forensics and Nuclear Attribution

Model Action Plan for Nuclear Forensics and Nuclear Attribution

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Nuclear forensics and nuclear attribution have become increasingly important tools in the fight against illegal trafficking in nuclear and radiological materials. This technical report documents the field of nuclear forensics and nuclear attribution in a comprehensive manner, summarizing tools and procedures that have heretofore been described independently in the scientific literature. This report also provides national policy-makers, decision-makers, and technical managers with guidance for responding to incidents involving the interdiction of nuclear and radiological materials. However, due to the significant capital costs of the equipment and the specialized expertise of the personnel, work in the field of nuclear forensics has been restricted so far to a handful of national and international laboratories. In fact, there are a limited number of specialists who have experience working with interdicted nuclear materials and affiliated evidence. Most of the laboratories that have the requisite equipment, personnel, and experience to perform nuclear forensic analysis are participants in the Nuclear Smuggling International Technical Working Group or ITWG (see Section 1.8). Consequently, there is a need to disseminate information on an appropriate response to incidents of nuclear smuggling, including a comprehensive approach to gathering evidence that meets appropriate legal standards and to developing insights into the source and routes of nuclear and radiological contraband. Appendix A presents a ''Menu of Options'' for other Member States to request assistance from the ITWG Nuclear Forensics Laboratories (INFL) on nuclear forensic cases.


Nuclear Forensics

Nuclear Forensics

Author: Division on Earth and Life Studies

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-07-29

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 0309159113

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Nuclear forensics is important to our national security. Actions, including provision of appropriate funding, are needed now to sustain and improve the nation's nuclear forensics capabilities. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working with cooperating agencies and national laboratories, should plan and implement a sustainable, effective nuclear forensics program. Nuclear forensics is the examination and evaluation of discovered or seized nuclear materials and devices or, in cases of nuclear explosions or radiological dispersals, of detonation signals and post-detonation debris. Nuclear forensic evidence helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies work toward preventing, mitigating, and attributing a nuclear or radiological incident. This report, requested by DHS, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Department of Defense, makes recommendations on how to sustain and improve U.S. nuclear forensics capabilities. The United States has developed a nuclear forensics capability that has been demonstrated in real-world incidents of interdicted materials and in exercises of actions required after a nuclear detonation. The committee, however, has concerns about the program and finds that without strong leadership, careful planning, and additional funds, these capabilities will decline.


Nuclear Forensics

Nuclear Forensics

Author: Gene Aloise

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-08

Total Pages: 17

ISBN-13: 1437918921

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The detonation of a nuclear weapon or radiological dispersal device in the U.S. or elsewhere would cause decision makers to demand info. on the nature of the device -- incl. its design, the materials used to build it, and the materials' source -- as well as the ident. of the perpetrators. Technical nuclear forensics -- the analysis of nuclear or radiological materials that are intercepted or the radioactive debris and prompt output signals produced by a nuclear event -- can contribute to the ident. of the sources of the materials and the processes used to create them. This report assesses the: (1) challenges the U.S. gov¿t. faces in developing and maintaining a comprehensive nuclear forensics capability; and (2) the current and future costs associated with this effort.


The New Nuclear Forensics

The New Nuclear Forensics

Author: Vitaly Fedchenko

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0198736649

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Nuclear material changes its form and properties as it moves through the nuclear fuel cycle, from one facility to another. Each step of the fuel cycle or each use of the material will inevitably leave its mark. The science of determining the history of a sample of nuclear material through the study of these characteristics is known as nuclear forensics. While nuclear forensic analysis has normally been associated with investigations and prosecutions in the contextof trafficking of nuclear materials or nuclear terrorism, it had wider applications in in national security contexts, such as nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament, and arms control. The New Nuclear Forensics is the first book to give a definitive guide to this broader definition of nuclear forensic analysis. This book describes the various methods used in nuclear forensics, giving first a broad introduction to the process followed by details of relevant measurement techniques and procedures. In each case, the advantages and limitations are outlined. To put these methods in context, the book also recounts the history of the discipline anddescribes the diverse contemporary applications of nuclear forensics.


Nuclear Forensic Analysis

Nuclear Forensic Analysis

Author: Kenton J. Moody

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2005-02-28

Total Pages: 510

ISBN-13: 0203507800

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This book provides a primary reference source for nuclear forensic science, including the vastly disciplinary nature of the overall endeavor for questioned weapons of mass-destruction specimens. Nothing like this exists even in the classified material. For the first time, the fundamental principles of radioforensic analysis, all pertinent protocols and procedures, computer modeling development, interpretational insights, and attribution considerations are consolidated into one convenient source. The principles and techniques so developed are then demonstrated and discussed in their applications to real-world investigations and casework conducted over the past several years.


Assuring a Future U.S.-Based Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise

Assuring a Future U.S.-Based Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-09-16

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 0309225345

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The growing use of nuclear medicine, the potential expansion of nuclear power generation, and the urgent needs to protect the nation against external nuclear threats, to maintain our nuclear weapons stockpile, and to manage the nuclear wastes generated in past decades, require a substantial, highly trained, and exceptionally talented workforce. Assuring a Future U.S.-Based Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise examines supply and demand for expertise in nuclear chemistry nuclear science, and radiochemistry in the United States and presents possible approaches for ensuring adequate availability of these skills, including necessary science and technology training platforms. Considering a range of reasonable scenarios looking to the future, none of these areas are likely to experience a decrease in demand for expertise. However, many in the current workforce are approaching retirement age and the number of students opting for careers in nuclear and radiochemistry has decreased dramatically over the past few decades. In order to avoid a gap in these critical areas, increases in student interest in these careers, in the research and educational capacity of universities and colleges, and sector specific on-the-job training will be needed. Concise recommendations are given for actions to avoid a shortage of nuclear chemistry, nuclear scientists, and radiochemists in the future.


The Oxford Handbook of Nuclear Security

The Oxford Handbook of Nuclear Security

Author:

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-05-16

Total Pages: 769

ISBN-13: 0192663844

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The Oxford Handbook of Nuclear Security provides a comprehensive examination of efforts to secure sensitive nuclear assets and mitigate the risk of nuclear terrorism and other non-state actor threats. It aims to provide the reader with a holistic understanding of nuclear security through exploring its legal, political, and technical dimensions at the international, national, and organizational levels. Recognizing there is no one-size-fits-all approach to nuclear security, the book explores fundamental elements and concepts in practice through a number of case studies which showcase how and why national and organizational approaches have diverged. Although focused on critiquing past and current activities, unexplored yet crucial aspects of nuclear security are also considered, and how gaps in international efforts might be filled. Contributors to the handbook are drawn from a variety of different disciplinary backgrounds and experiences, to provide a wide range of perspectives on nuclear security issues and move beyond the Western narratives that have tended to dominate the debate.These include scholars from both developed and developing nuclear countries, as well as practitioners working in the field of nuclear security in an effort to bridge the gap between theory and practice.


Nuclear Forensic Analysis

Nuclear Forensic Analysis

Author: Kenton J. Moody

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2014-12-10

Total Pages: 516

ISBN-13: 143988062X

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Now in its second edition, Nuclear Forensic Analysis provides a multidisciplinary reference for forensic scientists, analytical and nuclear chemists, and nuclear physicists in one convenient source. The authors focus particularly on the chemical, physical, and nuclear aspects associated with the production or interrogation of a radioactive sample.


Nuclear Weapons Counterproliferation

Nuclear Weapons Counterproliferation

Author: Jack Garvey

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-04-08

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0199997861

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Nuclear Weapons Counterproliferation: A New Grand Bargain proposes a new legal and institutional framework for counterproliferation of nuclear weapons. Its proposal is designed to remedy the widely acknowledged breakdown of the architecture of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on which we can no longer rely for global nuclear security. First, Nuclear Weapons Counterproliferation defines the distinctively dangerous character of contemporary nuclear risk and explains why the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty no longer provides a viable foundation for counterproliferation of nuclear weapons. It then sets out the reforms needed in order to limit the radical increase in availability, for rogue governments and terrorists, of nuclear weapons related material and technology. Garvey proposes a new counterproliferation architecture, to be built on presently available scientific, legal, and institutional resources, which could achieve a critical reduction of nuclear risk and an expanded deterrence. Guiding principles for establishing this new architecture are formulated, including, most importantly, the principal mechanism for implementation, a United Nations Security Council Counterproliferation Resolution applying equally for all states. This book presents what may be our best opportunity to secure a profoundly more effective global nuclear security and counter the world's current course to a catastrophic nuclear detonation.