Year
1997
Abstract
The economic and political disarray in the former Soviet Union coupled with the need to enhance security for stockpiles of SNM (Special Nuclear Materials) have increased concerns that such material could be diverted into the hands of terrorists or unfriendly states. Because of the variety of environments and situations where fissionable nuclear material could be trafficked, a fast, accurate and foolproof instrument is required to help meet this growing concern. The new SNM Scout512TM from Quantrad Sensor is a hand-held portable instrument system that can quickly determine the presence and enrichment of samples containing weapons grade uranium and the presence of weapons grade plutonium. A state-of-the-art software package for the detection and identification of weapons grade Uranium and Plutonium for anti-smuggling applications was developed to operate in conjunction with Quantrad Sensor Inc.'s existing Scout, a hand-held portable radionuclide isotopic identification system. This software was licensed from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, operated by the University of California for the United States Department of Energy. Porting this software onto the Scout, allows for the first time the detection and identification of SNM by relatively untrained personnel with the push of a button. The software has a built-in calibration routine and also provides for quick in-field recalibration. Additionally, special removable shields for the NaI detector were developed to enhance the detection limits for SNM. The user interface is very simple, easily understood by untrained personnel and is available in Russian. This interface can be quickly updated to display other languages of interest. The hardware and software of the SNM Scout512TM System provides for an extremely portable, low cost, quick and simple method for the detection of weapons grade Uranium and Plutonium. This easy to use system with a multilingual capability will enable widespread monitoring for SNM and hopefully help prevent the illicit trafficking of these materials worldwide.