Conveners
Oral Session #6 – Novel Techniques Applied to Nuclear Forensic Examinations
- Maria Wallenius (European Commission)
Introduction
The objects of investigation in nuclear forensics may be represented as soil samples, vegetation, tissue fragments, filter materials, biological samples, everyday objects contaminated with particles of nuclear and other radioactive materials (NRM). The analysis of such objects, during the investigation, first of all, requires the use of non-destructive methods of analysis....
Introduction
Whenever nuclear or other radioactive material is found out of regulatory control, the investigating authority needs to identify the radiological hazard associated with the material, the potential origin of the material and the route it has taken after regulatory control was lost. In order to answer these questions, (samples of) the seized material may be subject to nuclear...
We describe the development of a comprehensive microanalysis method using focussed ion beam- scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) in combination with time-of-flight-secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) for potential applications in the investigation of nuclear forensic samples and safeguards. Possible materials for examination include bulk uranium and powder specimens with varying...
As part of an agreement between the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD), the JAEA-ISCN (Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Nuclear Security) and DOE/NNSA cooperatively aim to advance technology development in nuclear...
Introduction
The Virtual Laboratory on Age Dating for Investigation Support (VLADIS) is a consortium of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), and the National Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina (CNEA). The VLADIS initiative was launched in October 2020 with...
Nuclear forensic interpretation is an unavoidable stage of the nuclear forensic process: it transforms the analytical results obtained at the stage of characterization into meaningful information useful for formulation of the nuclear forensic findings. As has been demonstrated by the ITWG’s exercises CMX-1 and Galaxy Serpent 1 and 4, a capability to understand and use nuclear forensics...