Ever watched the news about some rogue state being inspected by UN nuclear inspectors and wondered how they can tell if there is jiggerypokery afoot?
One of the methods used is to employ Cherenkov viewing devices. Cherenkov Radiation is what gives nuclear material that blue glow (the best place to see it is when spent nuclear fuel is stored under water). Devices designed to measure light are fairly standard and Cherenkov Viewing devices are simply designed to measure light in specific wavelengths (including ultraviolet).
What is interesting about Cherenkov Radiation is that the amount of light emitted is related to the amount of nuclear material present so, if a state reports that they have one ton of nuclear material in their storage ponds and the amount of Cherenkov Radiation detected only related to half a ton then inspectors can tell that some of it has been moved to another location (possibly a secret nuclear weapons facility).
My opinion on how a rogue state might try to hoodwink.
Most facilities have dummy fuel (the facility I worked at used them) that could be used to try out engineering solutions to problems before applying to the plant itself and these dummies might be placed in a fuel pond to try and fool the inspectors but, being dummies, they won’t be irradiated and won’t be emitting Cherenkov Radiation.
I find this fascinating
www.iaea.org
One of the methods used is to employ Cherenkov viewing devices. Cherenkov Radiation is what gives nuclear material that blue glow (the best place to see it is when spent nuclear fuel is stored under water). Devices designed to measure light are fairly standard and Cherenkov Viewing devices are simply designed to measure light in specific wavelengths (including ultraviolet).
What is interesting about Cherenkov Radiation is that the amount of light emitted is related to the amount of nuclear material present so, if a state reports that they have one ton of nuclear material in their storage ponds and the amount of Cherenkov Radiation detected only related to half a ton then inspectors can tell that some of it has been moved to another location (possibly a secret nuclear weapons facility).
My opinion on how a rogue state might try to hoodwink.
Most facilities have dummy fuel (the facility I worked at used them) that could be used to try out engineering solutions to problems before applying to the plant itself and these dummies might be placed in a fuel pond to try and fool the inspectors but, being dummies, they won’t be irradiated and won’t be emitting Cherenkov Radiation.
I find this fascinating
What is Cherenkov Radiation?
Cherenkov radiation is a form of energy emitted when the charged particles moving at speeds faster than that of light in a specific medium.
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