Radioisotope Discrimination Algorithm for Arms Control Verification

Potential future arms control treaties may include warhead verification measurement scenarios which could require the use of intrusive inspection technologies such as spectroscopic gamma radiation measurement and neutron counting. These technologies, although highly capable of confirming the presence or absence of nuclear warheads, pose serious information security risks. Sandia National Laboratories has continued to develop a technique to confirm the presence of weapons usable nuclear material without collecting or storing a gamma radiation spectrum. By individually weighting each measured pulse in list mode, a scalar value is used to confirm the expected radioisotopic composition of the item being measured. This method can help deliver an option for a more easily trusted attribute measurement system in future arms control treaties.