[mewzilla]

Anyone know how they detect one element as opposed to another? Would everything set off a geiger or neutron detector, or whatever it is they're using, in the same way?

[Erasmus]

Anyone know how they detect one element as opposed to another? Would everything set off a geiger or neutron detector, or whatever it is they're using, in the same way?

1. Mass spectroscopy.

2. Standard inorganic chemical assays.

3. Detailed study of the time decay of the radiation counts yields the component decay rates resulting in the total observed count; each of these rates is characteristic of a particular radioisotope.

[FreeTheHostages]

I'm not expert. I gather that not everything that is radioactive is weapons grade. I've been told in this thread that plutonium would be. I assume they're testing to see if it's plutonium, in particular.