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DTRA’s advancements in nuclear and radiological detection
A new, more complex nuclear age has begun. Echoing the tensions of the Cold War amid rapidly evolving nuclear and radiological threats, preparedness in the modern age is a contest of scientific innovation. The Research and Development Directorate (RD) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is charged with winning this contest.
Elham Gharibshahi, Miltos Alamaniotis
Nuclear Technology | Volume 210 | Number 5 | May 2024 | Pages 868-883
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2254168
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nuclear terrorism resulting from the illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials consists of a serious threat against the security of countries. Hence, the transportation of hidden nuclear materials in large-scale cargos has emerged as an important public issue that requires immediate attention. The security architecture should merge the nuclear security systems and execute a procedure for the detection of nuclear and radioactive materials. In this regard, the detection of special nuclear materials (SNMs) in liquid-filled cargo containers is an essential matter of homeland security because of the difficulties imposed by liquids in performing efficient manual inspection. This paper presents a new artificial intelligence (AI) system implemented with fuzzy logic tools for detecting composite materials, including Pb-Th, Pb-U, and Pb-Co, in containers filled with water by utilizing optical signature information obtained with COMSOL. The developed AI system and its underlying method are validated for a scenario of detecting Pb-Th, Pb-U, and Pb-Co in water-filled containers.