Special Session: 25 Years of the Nuclear Forensics ITWG: Accomplishments and Future Challenges

The Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG) is a multinational, informal association of official practitioners of nuclear forensics - laboratory scientists, law enforcement personnel, and regulatory officials - who share a common task in responding to nuclear security events involving nuclear or other radioactive materials out of regulatory control. The ITWG advances the field of nuclear forensics through a combination of annual meetings, task group activities, and special exercises. The inaugural meeting which led to the formation of the ITWG was held at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in 1995. Since that time, the annual meetings have all been held in Europe. As the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG) marks twenty-five years of work to identify, develop and promote best practices in nuclear forensic science, the ITWG Executive Committee approved convening the 2020 annual meeting in the United States to be hosted by LLNL in California. Both the U.S. Departments of State and Energy are united in their support for this commemorative anniversary. Due to the pandemic, the in-person Nuclear Forensics ITWG 25-year commemorative event was re-scheduled to the summer of 2022. This panel session “25 Years of the Nuclear Forensics ITWG: Accomplishments and Future Challenges” aims to showcase some of the technical, scientific, and organizational achievements of the ITWG during its first 25 years.