ANALYSIS OF DETECTABILITY OF HIGHLY-ENRICHED URANIUM AND PLUTONIUM USING REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES

The Department of Energy (DOE) is assisting the States of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in design and implementation of material control and accountability (MC&A) systems at nuclea facilities in the FSU in order to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Inventory records at many FSU nuclear installations are deficient and a potentially large quantity of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) at various sites in the FSU could be undocumented. A similar problem may exist for plutonium (Pu), although smaller quantities are expected to be involved. Application of remote sensing technologies could be useful in identifying and producing qualitative information on undocumented stores of HEU or Pu. Results from such activities could lead to more quantitative assays and enable such undocumented materials to be incorporated into a planned MC&A system. To help facilitate the planning of its assistance to the FSU the DOE initiated a study to provide insight into the lower limit of detectability of concentrated sources of Pu and HEU by means of remote sensing techniques. Tbe results of this study are reported here and provide general guidance for specification of remote sensing systems to survey undocumented Pu and HEU at nuclear facilities in the FSU.