NPRE Prof. Clair Sullivan, a radiation detection expert, has been awarded $2.25 million in research funding as part of larger efforts by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to verify nuclear arms control, and enable capabilities for nonproliferation.
Over the next five years, Sullivan will have available $750,000 from a $25 million grant to the Consortium for Verification Technology (CVT), a University of Michigan-led consortium for research and development in nuclear arms control verification technologies, including nuclear safeguards effectiveness.
Sullivan said one key aspect to aiding the United States in treaty verification is in making sure there are information barriers in place. This ensures that countries are living up to their treaty obligations regarding nuclear weapon dismantlement and nuclear material blend-down without compromising their sensitive state secrets. Better isotope identification algorithms, such as those developed in Sullivan’s Radiation Detection and Isotope Identification lab, can help provide such information barriers to allow the U.S. to conduct treaty verification.
Nuclear safeguards support the International Atomic Energy Agency’s mission to monitor the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the commitments of signatory countries to refrain from developing new nuclear weapons. Other work under the consortium will include efforts in geophysical modeling for the detection of underground nuclear detonations to support test monitoring.
Sullivan will also get $1.5 million over five years from another $25 million grant to the Consortium for Nonproliferation Enabling Capabilities (CNEC), led by North Carolina State University. CNEC will provide the U.S. government with cutting edge research and development to identify and address multi-disciplinary and cross-functional technology and research needs that are critical to detecting foreign nuclear weapon proliferation activities.
Sullivan said the CNEC grant covers nonproliferation issues other than radiation detection. Specifically, the consortium’s research projects will include technologies to enhance simulation capabilities, algorithms, and modeling; new test and evaluation models for detection sensors; new remote sensing capabilities; and applications of data analytics and data fusion to better characterize and detect special nuclear materials.
For the two projects, Sullivan envisions working with least three graduate students, all of whom must be United States citizens, and also is considering hiring postdoctoral research associates to help with the work.
CVT includes university scientists from Illinois, the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Columbia University, North Carolina State University, the University of Hawaii, Pennsylvania State University, Duke University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Florida, Oregon State University and Yale. Joining them will be experts from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Idaho national labs.
CNEC is composed of scientists from Illinois, North Carolina State University, the University of Michigan, Purdue University, Kansas State University, Georgia Tech University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and several national laboratories, including Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest.
Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad.