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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 4: Nuclear Archeology

AGA 4.1: Talk

Thursday, March 21, 2024, 11:45–12:15, PTB HS HvHB

Applying Nuclear Archaeology to Reprocessing Waste in DPRK — •Johannes Bosse and Malte Göttsche — RWTH, Aachen, Deutschland

At some point, endeavors aimed at denuclearizing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) must confront the challenge posed by its stockpiles of fissile material. The available information on the historical and current operation of North Korea’s fuel cycle is incomplete, making it challenging to establish a reliable and quantitative assessment without additional information. This knowledge gap could prove to be a significant hurdle in future verification efforts during disarmament initiatives.

To address this issue, inspectors could employ techniques derived from nuclear archaeology to gain valuable insights into DPRK*s historical fissile material production. My work demonstrates how the Bayesian approach to nuclear archaeology we develop in Aachen can leverage measurements of isotopic ratios of high-level reprocessing waste to extract meaningful information.

In this work, I simulate potential measurements and utilize them as evidence in a Bayesian nuclear archaeology model. A notable challenge arises from the fact that reprocessing waste from different batches of spent fuel is combined, making it non-trivial to deduce the operational history of the reactor. This study showcases how such an approach could enhance disarmament verification efforts in the DPRK and potentially in other regions.

Keywords: Nuclear Archeology; Bayesian Inference; High-Level Reprocessing Waste