Plutonium signatures discovery capability launched at PNNL
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Category: ResearchType: News
Source: PNNL
Date: Monday, April 17th, 2017
News Brief
April 17, 2017 
RICHLAND, Wash. - Rare capabilities at the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab are being enlisted in the fight to prevent threats from those who might steal nuclear material.
Plutonium in weapons usable forms can be produced through various processes. By replicating some of these different conversion processes in a specialized research facility, nuclear scientists can then characterize subtle differences in the resulting material. The differences, called signatures, are a due to the varied means of processing plutonium and can be used by the government to trace the material to where it was produced.
After analyzing small samples, PNNL will create a database of signatures related to each process for the Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. The U.S. could then use the database to use to evaluate any plutonium that may be confiscated from smugglers.
More information is accessible in this DHS blog post.
Tags: Computational Science, National Security, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Homeland Security
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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