Global Security Newswire

Scientists working at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico have come up with a potentially less expensive and more efficient method for detecting hidden radioactive substances in shipping crates and luggage that could eventually be deployed by the Homeland Security Department, the federal laboratory announced in a Friday press release (see GSN, Nov. 4, 2011).

A number of existing radiation scanners employ neutron detection technology. However, the method is problematic and time-consuming because it is difficult for the detectors to tell the difference between commonly present and innocuous gamma rays and the neutrons that are present in radiological and nuclear substances. 

Sandia laboratory's newly developed "spectral shape discrimination" technique, however, "takes advantage of a new class of nanoporous materials known as metal-organic frameworks," the press release states. "Researchers discovered that adding a doping agent to an MOF leads to the emission of red and blue light when the MOF interacts with high-energy particles emanated from radiological or nuclear material, enabling more effective detection of neutrons."

"We are approaching the problem from a materials-chemistry perspective,"  Sandia materials scientist Mark Allendorf said in released remarks. "Fundamentally, it is easier to monitor the color of light emissions rather than the rate at which that light is emitted. That’s the crux of this new approach."

The National Nuclear Security Administration's Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation office has provided monies to continue research on the new technology.

"Improving our radiation detection capabilities is crucial to advancing NNSA’s nonproliferation mission," NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Anne Harrington said in provided comments. "Preventing the illicit movement of radiological and nuclear materials around the globe supports the president’s nuclear security objectives and helps to mitigate the threat of a nuclear terror attack" (Sandia National Laboratories release, June 29).