Vintage electronics for trusted radiation measurements and verified dismantlement of nuclear weapons
Abstract
Information barriers are trusted measurement systems to confirm the authenticity of nuclear warheads based on their radiation signatures. Traditional inspection systems rely on complex electronics both for data acquisition and processing. Several research efforts have produced prototype systems, but it has proven difficult to demonstrate that hidden switches and side channels do not exist. After almost thirty years of research and development, no viable and widely accepted system has emerged. We pursue a fundamentally different approach: Our prototype of an inspection system uses vintage hardware built around a 6502 processor. The processor uses 8-micron technology and has only about 4,200 transistors. Vintage electronics may have a number of important advantages for applications where two parties need to simultaneously establish trust in the hardware used. CPUs designed in the distant past, at a time when their use for sensitive measurements was never envisioned, drastically reduce concerns that the other party implemented backdoors or hidden switches on the hardware level. We demonstrate the performance of a prototype system using an Apple IIe and a custom-made open-source data-processing board connected to a standard sodiumiodide radiation detector for low-resolution gamma spectroscopy. Data processing and analysis is exclusively done on the Apple IIe hardware. Wemore »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Nonproliferation and Verification Research and Development (NA-22)
- Contributing Org.:
- UK-Norway Initiative (UKNI)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1616454
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1798660
- Grant/Contract Number:
- NA0003920; NA0002534
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- PLoS ONE
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 14; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-6203
- Publisher:
- Public Library of Science
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
Citation Formats
Kütt, Moritz, and Glaser, Alexander. Vintage electronics for trusted radiation measurements and verified dismantlement of nuclear weapons. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0224149.
Kütt, Moritz, & Glaser, Alexander. Vintage electronics for trusted radiation measurements and verified dismantlement of nuclear weapons. United States. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224149
Kütt, Moritz, and Glaser, Alexander. Wed .
"Vintage electronics for trusted radiation measurements and verified dismantlement of nuclear weapons". United States. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224149. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1616454.
@article{osti_1616454,
title = {Vintage electronics for trusted radiation measurements and verified dismantlement of nuclear weapons},
author = {Kütt, Moritz and Glaser, Alexander},
abstractNote = {Information barriers are trusted measurement systems to confirm the authenticity of nuclear warheads based on their radiation signatures. Traditional inspection systems rely on complex electronics both for data acquisition and processing. Several research efforts have produced prototype systems, but it has proven difficult to demonstrate that hidden switches and side channels do not exist. After almost thirty years of research and development, no viable and widely accepted system has emerged. We pursue a fundamentally different approach: Our prototype of an inspection system uses vintage hardware built around a 6502 processor. The processor uses 8-micron technology and has only about 4,200 transistors. Vintage electronics may have a number of important advantages for applications where two parties need to simultaneously establish trust in the hardware used. CPUs designed in the distant past, at a time when their use for sensitive measurements was never envisioned, drastically reduce concerns that the other party implemented backdoors or hidden switches on the hardware level. We demonstrate the performance of a prototype system using an Apple IIe and a custom-made open-source data-processing board connected to a standard sodiumiodide radiation detector for low-resolution gamma spectroscopy. Data processing and analysis is exclusively done on the Apple IIe hardware. We show that subtle differences in radiation signatures can be detected in 2–3 minutes based on the result of a simple chi-squared test. Vintage electronics may therefore offer a new path toward fieldable, trusted information barriers.},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0224149},
journal = {PLoS ONE},
number = 10,
volume = 14,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Oct 30 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Wed Oct 30 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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Works referenced in this record:
Information barrier experimental: Toward a trusted and open-source computing platform for nuclear warhead verification
journal, January 2018
- Kütt, Moritz; Göttsche, Malte; Glaser, Alexander
- Measurement, Vol. 114
Measurement Techniques for Warhead Authentication with Attributes: Advantages and Limitations
journal, May 2014
- Göttsche, Malte; Kirchner, Gerald
- Science & Global Security, Vol. 22, Issue 2
Information barrier experimental: Toward a trusted and open-source computing platform for nuclear warhead verification
text, January 2018
- Kütt, Moritz; Göttsche, Malte; Glaser, Alexander
- RWTH Aachen University
Measurement Techniques for Warhead Authentication with Attributes: Advantages and Limitations
journal, May 2014
- Göttsche, Malte; Kirchner, Gerald
- Science & Global Security, Vol. 22, Issue 2