Real-Time Monitoring System of In-Transit Nuclear Material

Due to the tragic event of Sep. 11, 2001 and the discovery of experimental documents that Al- Q’aida had succeeded to build a dirty bomb, an act of terrorism relating to radioactive or nuclear material have been recognized as a credible threat. Since then, the world has paid special attention to preventing such materials from being fallen into wrong hands of a terrorist and from being used to attack its people. We have developed a real-time monitoring system of nuclear material during transport to defend our people and environment from the threat involving the dangerous materials. The system consists of a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag and reader, a GPS (Global Position System), an electronics box, a database server, and an operation software. Field tests were carried out to characterize its performance. Test results showed that the unauthorized removal of nuclear material, suspicious behaviors of workers deviated from transport plan, and current position of in-transit material could be monitored in real-time under operation of the developed system. It is believed that this real-time surveillance system would contribute to protecting the people from the potential danger posed by the unauthorized removal and misuse of nuclear material and to strengthening international physical protection of nuclear material and facility. In the near future, the radiation detector with wireless communication will be added to this system for the purpose of monitoring the integrity of nuclear material.