Achievement

Trainees Dan Chivers, Bethany Lyles Goldblum, and Seth Snider have continued to work collaboratively on an interdisciplinary exploration of the science and policy issues associated with establishing an international nuclear forensics system. Their findings suggest the benefits of using forensics to prevent nuclear terrorism and demonstrate the need for performance based physical protection of fissile materials and nuclear facilities. The success of an international system will depend, in large part, on the ability reference interdicted materials against a ‘database’ of known nuclear materials and the standardization of nuclear forensic methods. They have examined the scientific and policy issues associated with establishing an international forensics system based on these constraints in ‘Before the Day After: Using Pre-Detonation Nuclear Forensics to Improve Fissile Material Security,’ published in Arms Control Today.