Nuclear forensics - An important tool

Illicit trafficking of radioactive or nuclear material is of great concern internationally due to its potential application by terrorist groups. Nuclear forensics examination is the analysis of nuclear and other radioactive materials to identify the sources and support national or international legal issues related to nuclear security.

In general, national or international laws prohibit unauthorized or illegal movement or transport of nuclear or radioactive materials across national borders. The smuggled radioactive material and which is out of the regulatory control can be misused in nuclear crimes.

The materials seized in such situations need to be examined by dedicated laboratories to support the law enforcement authorities for prosecution of a breach in the security of such materials. Sensitive measurement techniques will be necessary to analyze small to very small amounts of the sample. The radioactive material may be in the form of loose contamination. Techniques such as gamma spectrometry, clinical forensic medicine to detect radiation exposure specific injuries, etc.

It is also important to identify the material using validated procedures, identify the origin of the material and the potential hazard of its use in the public domain or in any other illegal activities. The results provide evidence which is necessary for successful prosecution.

National regulatory authorities and international bodies such as IAEA are much concerned about this illegal trafficking of the material. The IAEA Nuclear and Security Series bring together details, including technical characterization of the seized material samples using technical tools and the procedures adopted in nuclear forensics.

IAEA, Advances in nuclear forensics countering the evolving threat of nuclear and other radioactive the material out of regulatory control, STI/PUB/1706 [ISBN:978-92-0-104815-8], 2015.

RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

In addition to the natural radiation and radioactive materials, radiation, and radioactive materials are present in the environment from the past practices of testing of nuclear weapons, large scale releases from accidents in nuclear and radiological facilities and the authorized releases from the nuclear fuel cycle facilities, including radioactive waste management facilities. Releases from the regulated facilities are well controlled to protect the environment. However, accidental releases or releases from unregulated practices are likely to harm the environment – flora and fauna. In such situations, one cannot assume that the environmental impact from the releases is negligible.

Subsequently, IAEA’s work programme on the development of safety standards on the protection of the environment from the effects of ionizing radiation culminated in the development of regulatory frame work, based on the IAEA’s policy on the radiological protection of the environment.  

ICRP in its publication 103 [2007] acknowledge the importance of protecting the environment in addition to the safety of members of the public by way of authorized discharges in planned exposure situations. To establish a framework for environmental protection in all exposure situations, like for humans. It is proposed to use Reference Animals and Plants for radiation dose assessment. However, no dose limits are not recommended. Thus, protection of the environment is identified as the issue necessitating an assessment of the impacts on the environment from a particular source(s).

 

Ref: IAEA, Radiation protection of the public and the environment, IAEA Safety Standards, General Safety Guide, GSG-8, IAEA, Vienna, 2018.