Technological Challenges in combating the trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive material

Description

The most comprehensive recent study on performance of commercially available monitoring equipment was performed by the Austrian Research Center in close cooperation with the IAEA. This Illicit Trafficking Radiation Assessment Program (ITRAP) was made possible by the participation of more than 20 international manufactures of stationary and mobile monitoring equipment. The study also highlighted strong and less strong points of current equipment, some of which could be rectified within the duration of the study itself. As an interesting aspect, attention was paid to the complete detection and response process, considering the application within the framework of front line officers at checkpoints (within the ITRAP study a field test was undertaken at the Hungarian-Austrian border crossing at Nickelsdorf). Again, practical experience showed possible consequences for the actual implementation of such a monitoring program (especially if designed from scratch). Technically, a number of factors still need to be addressed, first and foremost in the area of handheld radionuclide identifiers, small instruments allowing indentification of radionuclides in the field in contrast to previous laboratory analysis. Similarly, the term "investigation level" used in corresponding IAEA technical documentation will be discussed in detail. The paper will present an overview of the results of the ITRAP study, in terms of detection capability and deployment considerations, problems encountered and improvement potential, and a discussion centered on possible consequences of interest to manufactures and those responsible for implementation of a monitoring program.

Period	9 Sept 2002 → 13 Sept 2002
Event title	International Conference on Physical protection, NUMAT 2002
Event type	Other
Degree of Recognition	International