Nuclear Forensics to Combat Terrorism

The 2016 Nuclear Security Summit emphasized the need for further progress to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear and radioactive materials. Political will must be translated into regulatory frameworks supported by scientific tools to prevent, detect, and respond to nuclear security events. Given that nuclear terrorism is global and nuclear security events are often cross-border, international efforts are indispensable. Nuclear forensics plays a key role in this process by providing information on nuclear material, including type, origin, date of production, and intended use. While core capabilities in nuclear forensics should be available in all countries, some states have more advanced capabilities than others for characterizing illicit nuclear material. International efforts aim to make core capabilities and rapid and reliable support to law enforcement available in many countries, but a thorough characterization of illicit nuclear material requires cutting-edge methodologies and science that is not available everywhere. Partnerships between leading nuclear forensic laboratories are important for consolidating characteristic parameters (i.e., describing the material and providing hints to its history), identifying new ones, and ensuring credible and defensible nuclear forensic conclusions. This session presents results and challenges in nuclear forensics outreach and networking and explores their importance to law enforcement, regulators, and policymakers.