Categorization of Radioxenon

Keller, Paul E.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (U.S.)

关键词: Ctbto;    Nuclear Weapon Explosion;    Radioxenon;    Medical Isotope Production;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1095464
RP-ID  :  PNNL-21331
RP-ID  :  AC05-76RL01830
RP-ID  :  1095464

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This report summarizes a study into some false positive issues in the use of radioxenon as a method to verify a clandestine nuclear weapons explosion. False positives arise due to similarities between the radioxenon signature generated in medical isotope production and that generated in a nuclear weapon explosion. This report also discusses how to categorize the radioxenon by levels of urgency for manual analysis and interpretation and recommends applying machine learning and time series analysis techniques in the automation of radioxenon characterization. The literature indicates that medical isotope production is a major contributor to atmospheric radioxenon and is the main source of confusion in determining the source of radioxenon. While radioxenon emissions from nuclear power plants can be distinguished from that from nuclear weapon explosions, emissions from medical isotope production generate signatures similar to certain nuclide ratios found in nuclear weapons explosions. Different techniques for analyzing nuclide concentrations and ratios as well as including other sensing modalities via sensor fusion are discussed.