Improvement of Technical Measures to Detect and Respond to Illicit Trafficking of Nuclear and Radioactive Materials

This publication summarizes the research conducted during an IAEA coordinated research project (CRP) undertaken to address technical and operational difficulties in the detection of and response to illicit trafficking of nuclear material. Equipment to detect illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials at borders has specific technical and operational requirements that are very different from equipment used in other radiation monitoring cases. Automated and manual measurements need to be done in the field, often outdoors, at land or sea borders, crossing points or airports. The free flow of goods and passengers must not be impacted, thus requiring that the measurement time be short. The design needs to take into account that the users of the equipment are not experts in radiation detection; thus the results of the measurements should be easy to understand.