Strengthening International Partnerships In Nuclear Forensics Through The Virtual Laboratory On Age Dating For Investigation Support (VLADIS)

The Virtual Laboratory on Age-Dating for Investigation Support (VLADIS) is a virtual consortium of nuclear forensics practitioners from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), and the Argentinian National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). Launched in October 2020, this initiative was born out of LLNL and LANL’s successful and long-running nuclear material age-dating collaboration with colleagues at ANSTO through the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence. With travel restricted due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, VLADIS aims to create a discussion forum where age-dating practitioners can learn from one another using web-based platforms to give presentations, share questions about radiochronometry (age-dating), and build a network of practicing analysts. The VLADIS working group meets monthly and is led and facilitated by nuclear forensics technical analysts from all participating laboratories, including experts in chemistry, mass spectrometry, data analysis, and nuclear forensic signature evaluation. The project uses virtual platforms to provide organized, interactive, and collaborative content to enable a dialogue that will lead to (i) an improved understanding of radiochronometric analyses of nuclear materials at ANSTO, CNEA, LANL, and LLNL, and (ii) a forum for early career staff to network and ask questions in an informal setting. This initiative is not meant to replace in-person visits and technical exchanges between laboratories, as that remains the preferred method for building long-term partnerships. However, VLADIS will complement overall engagement between in-person meetings and is expected to continue even when travel resumes. The VLADIS initiative is being used as a pilot project or test-bed to experiment with virtual information sharing which could be redesigned for use with other partner countries covering other topics, including but not limited to radiochronometry.