Evaluation of Surrogate Special Nuclear Material (SNM) Sources for Use in Training and Modeling

摘要

The threat of nuclear warfare is on the rise with advanced technology and adaptive terrorist groups [1]. To counter the rising threat, the U.S. needs to continually improve the ability to interdict the entry of illicit nuclear material. In order to improve the training of personnel and the testing of both equipment and protocols used in the detection of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and Weapons Grade Plutonium (WGPu), this project builds upon previous research of surrogate SNM sources [2] to develop high fidelity, low cost, and easily configurable SNM surrogates.