Nuclear detectionUltrasensitive Measurements Detect Nuclear Explosions
Imagine being able to detect the faintest of radionuclide signals from hundreds of miles away. Scientists have developed a system which constantly collects and analyzes air samples for signals that would indicate a nuclear explosion, perhaps conducted secretly underground. The system can detect just a small number of atoms from nuclear activity anywhere on the planet. In terms of sensitivity, the capability – in place for decades – is analogous to the ability to detect coronavirus from a single cough anywhere on Earth.
Imagine being able to detect the faintest of radionuclide signals from hundreds of miles away.
That’s the capability created by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who have contributed much of the nuclear science that underlies an international monitoring system designed to detect nuclear explosions worldwide. The system constantly collects and analyzes air samples for signals that would indicate a nuclear explosion, perhaps conducted secretly underground.
Incredibly, the system can detect just a small number of atoms from nuclear activity anywhere on the planet. In terms of sensitivity, the capability – in place for decades – is analogous to the ability to detect coronavirus from a single cough anywhere on Earth.
WOSMIP Remote and Nuclear Nonproliferation
This summer, experts from around the world came together online to discuss the science in a remote version of a biennial meeting, the Workshop on the Signatures of Man-Made Isotope Production, or WOSMIP Remote. The event was organized by an international team led by PNNL nuclear physicist Ted Bowyer, whose groundbreaking work more than 20 years ago helped open the door to worldwide monitoring of trace signals that betray nuclear explosions.
The WOSMIP video sessions were designed for scientists exploring a key question: How can they separate out signals of interest, such as from a nuclear explosion, from benign background signals that emanate from peaceful uses, such as working nuclear reactors or medical isotope production facilities?
Few capabilities are more important to get right for world security. A false positive could lead the international community to conclude that a country conducted a nuclear test when it did not. A false negative could mean that an illicit nuclear explosion went undetected.
“It’s like a park ranger trying to differentiate many legal campfires vs. one small campfire that is not permitted,” said Bowyer, an expert in precise measurement of isotopes of noble gases like xenon. “There’s smoke all over the place and the park ranger has to determine if any of the fires are illegal, and if so, which ones. Our goal is to stop the illegal fires by determining the cause of the smoke.”
