Nuclear Forensics Skill Is Declining in U.S., Report Says

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

The nation’s ability to identify the source of a nuclear weapon used in a terrorist attack is fragile and eroding, according to a report released Thursday by the National Research Council.

Such highly specialized detective work, known as nuclear attribution, seeks to study clues from fallout and radioactive debris as a way to throw light on the identity of the attacker and the maker of the weapon. In recent years, federal officials have sought to improve such analytic skills, arguing that nuclear terrorism is a grave, long-term threat to the nation.

The major goals of the federal efforts are to clarify options for retaliation and to deter terrorists by letting them know that nuclear devices have fingerprints that atomic specialists can find and trace.

The report, “Nuclear Forensics: A Capability at Risk,” was made public by the National Research Council, the research arm of the National Academy of Sciences. It summarizes a secret version completed in January. Three federal agencies — the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, and the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is part of the Energy Department — requested the study.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/us/30nuke.html

[boppers]

1. I say we need at least 10 experts for every such attack experienced.

How many is that?

[Frisbee]

2. Who needs 'em?

If we're attacked we'll just bomb Iran (or the current enemy of the day) back to the stone age. Why confuse things with an inconvenient fact (like who really produced the material).

[Pavulon]

3. Oh we can tell what they enriched, what they got from kahn

we can find material that came out of South Africa in the 70's. We are VERY good at this. Someone's budget needs a few bucks..

The crazy aunt we keep locked in the closed it still a multi billion dollar industry.

[MetaTrope]

4. Wonder how many such experts were lost from Valerie Plame's organization?