SKM 2021 – scientific programme

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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 6: Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Verification

AGA 6.1: Talk

Friday, October 1, 2021, 10:00–10:30, H8

Nuclear Weapon or Hoax Object? Imitating Gamma Spectra in Verification Measurements — •Christopher Fichtlscherer^{1, 2} and Moritz Kütt² — ¹Nuclear Verification and Disarmament Group, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany — ²Arms Control and Emerging Technologies, IFSH, Hamburg, Germany

Nuclear weapon authentication often relies on the passive gamma spectrum of a warhead. Measurement systems for such authentication need to provide sufficient information to judge whether the measured object is a warhead. At the same time, they need to protect information considered sensitive. Authentication is only possible if the measured spectrum is unique to a specific warhead type for a given measurement system. If it were possible to produce hoax objects whose emissions create the same measured signal, states could present those in verification processes, effectively undermining disarmament efforts. To determine the uniqueness of warhead spectra, we attempted to replicate detector responses of a notional warhead model with mixtures of radioactive isotopes. In the talk, we present simulation results for existing warhead authentication prototypes.