Published on the 19th March 2019 by ANSTO Staff
ANSTO has hosted its second IAEA Practical Introduction to Nuclear Forensics Regional Training Course for representatives of member countries from South-East Asia, sharing expertise on the theoretical and practical aspects of nuclear forensics to respond to incidents of nuclear or other radioactive material out of regulatory control. This course was the first conducted under Practical Arrangements ANSTO signed with the IAEA in December 2018 to collaborate on nuclear forensics.
Nuclear forensics is usually undertaken in the context of a law enforcement investigation or legal proceedings relating to incidents of nuclear or other radioactive material out of regulatory control. Although not common on the global scale, such incidents continue to be reported to the IAEA’s Incident and Traffic Database.
“Nuclear forensics can be applied to nuclear or radioactive material that has been lost, stolen by accident or deliberately smuggled – any context where the material is out of regulatory control. It also includes an examination of other evidence that might be contaminated by radioactivity,” said Kaitlyn Toole, a nuclear forensic scientist at ANSTO and director of the training course.
The five-day program included lectures, hands-on laboratory work and a table-top exercise.
ANSTO CEO Dr Adi Paterson, who welcomed delegates from five countries to the Lucas Heights campus, said,
“It is part of ANSTO’s mandate to provide access to our specialist capabilities in nuclear techniques, such as nuclear forensics, with our counterparts in the region. It is important to build capacity to enhance nuclear security in the countries of our delegates and in the region generally”.
“The classroom components built knowledge that the participants then used in the practical component, gaining experience with specialist techniques such as alpha spectrometry. Critically, participants learned how to turn data into useful information which can address investigatory questions, as well as developing analytical abilities,” said Toole.
In addition to laboratory activities, participants were challenged with a table top exercise which they worked on in multinational teams
“With any material out of regulatory control we may want to know what the material is, where it originated, what is its intended use might be and who might have handled the material,” said Toole.
An expert from the Department of Energy in the United States oversaw the table-top exercise. An Australian Federal Police officer, who is an expert in fingerprinting, was also an instructor; this served to demonstrate the strong partnership built between ANSTO and the AFP for the examination of traditional forensic evidence contaminated with radionuclides.
ANSTO has almost two decades of experience in nuclear forensics and a dedicated laboratory.
The organisation has a longstanding commitment to supporting the IAEA’s nuclear forensics activities by engaging in Cooperative Research projects, providing subject matter experts as training facilitators, attending IAEA conferences, and participating in scientific advisories and consultations.