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Title: Experimental demonstration of an isotope-sensitive warhead verification technique using nuclear resonance fluorescence

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
 [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Lab. for Nuclear Security and Policy

Future nuclear arms reduction efforts will require technologies to verify that warheads slated for dismantlement are authentic without revealing any sensitive weapons design information to international inspectors. Despite several decades of research, no technology has met these requirements simultaneously. Recent work by Kemp et al. [Kemp RS, Danagoulian A, Macdonald RR, Vavrek JR (2016) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113:8618–8623] has produced a novel physical cryptographic verification protocol that approaches this treaty verification problem by exploiting the isotope-specific nature of nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) measurements to verify the authenticity of a warhead. To protect sensitive information, the NRF signal from the warhead is convolved with that of an encryption foil that contains key warhead isotopes in amounts unknown to the inspector. The convolved spectrum from a candidate warhead is statistically compared against that from an authenticated template warhead to determine whether the candidate itself is authentic. Here in this paper we report on recent proof-of-concept warhead verification experiments conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Using high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors, we measured NRF spectra from the interrogation of proxy “genuine” and “hoax” objects by a 2.52 MeV endpoint bremsstrahlung beam. The observed differences in NRF intensities near 2.2 MeV indicate that the physical cryptographic protocol can distinguish between proxy genuine and hoax objects with high confidence in realistic measurement times.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002534
OSTI ID:
1432580
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1454833; OSTI ID: 1525296
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 115, Issue 17; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 14 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

A physically cryptographic warhead verification system using neutron induced nuclear resonances journal September 2019
Nanoscale Spatially Resolved Mapping of Uranium Enrichment journal August 2019
A physically cryptographic warhead verification system using neutron induced nuclear resonances text January 2019
Nanoscale Spatially Resolved Mapping of Uranium Enrichment journal August 2019

Figures / Tables (6)