[SCR1]

If a device is detonated, is it possible to determine the origin of the radiactive material? How long would that determination take?

Would an appropriate response be the use of a weapon of about the same size on a city from which country the bomb material came from?

[knak]

Pakistan Says Europeans Involved in Nuke Scandals

[Sean Osborne Lomax]

"If a device is detonated, is it possible to determine the origin of the radiactive material?"

Yes, it is. The ability to "fingerprint" or obtain the signatures of the origin of weapons grade uranium and plutonium has increased steadly over the past several years. This process is based upon proven methods whose technological base increases steadily.

This real-world ability was protrayed in the 2002 film release of Tom Clancy's "The Sum of All Fears".

What follows is a quote from a 1997 .pdf document entitled:
"Viability of Long-Lived Fission Products as Signatures in Forensic Radiochemistry"


"These signatures include uranium and plutonium isotopic composition, isotopic composition of other heavy elements in the alpha decaychains, and radioactive fission products with a wide range of half-lives. A variety of analytical techniques are then used to quantify these signatures including alpha, gamma, and beta counting as well as mass spectrometric techniques. They have successfully applied these methods to determine signatures whose concentrations in plutonium vary over sixteen orders of magnitude.

How long would that determination take?

About as much time as it would take to collect a sample and run it through an Accellerator Mass Spectrometer or AMS. Again to quote the referenced .pdf: "AMS measurements are rapid —turnaround time is determined by sample preparation which generally requires only a few hours depending on the isotope and sample."

"Would an appropriate response be the use of a weapon of about the same size on a city from which country the bomb material came from?"

The appropriate response is determined by the Commander in Chief under the advisement of the Nastional Security Council, among others, and in accordance with longstanding US policy regarding an attack upon the United States utilizing any Weapon of Mass Destruction.