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U.S. Develops Technology to Monitor Nuclear Activity
The United States has accelerated efforts to develop new nuclear espionage technologies, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Jan. 30). The research focuses on improved detection of four basic signatures emitted by nuclear facilities: distinctive chemicals, sounds, electromagnetic waves and isotopes. The CIA nearly two years ago conducted a secret meeting of hundreds of nuclear intelligence experts to address the issue, the Times reported. The experts discussed new ways to monitor electric power lines for the signature of high-speed centrifuges and lasers that can track radioactive particles, among other developing technologies. Improved remote monitoring could be important if Iran limits international nuclear inspections, U.S. officials have said. “There is an urgency and imperative to invest in the technology to determine which approaches are best,” said Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph. “Some will work. Some will not. But it is the geopolitics that makes this urgent.” Experts agreed, however, that the new technologies could not replace the human inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency. One participant in the CIA meeting called the effort an overreaction to recent intelligence failures. “We’re throwing money at it,” he said. “We’ve created a whole business of people looking for needles in haystacks.” The program places emphasis on sensors, the Times reported. For example, atmospheric increases in radioactivity and the presence of uranium 235 — produced when natural uranium is enriched — are clear indicators of such activity. Research on sensors that could detect those elements is under way at the Los Alamos, Livermore and Oak Ridge national laboratories, experts said. Another goal is to create devices to track chemical byproduct leaks from clandestine sites. “That’s the smoking gun,” said one nuclear expert (Sanger/Broad, New York Times, Jan. 31).
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