Radiation Detection Equipment (RDE) Comparative Evaluation Test Program. Volume 1. Point Source Measurements

Radiation detection equipment (RDE) will be used under the START treaty to verify that air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM) declared to be non- nuclear do not contain nuclear warheads and to verify that certain containers do not contain radiation attenuating material. Under the Intermediate-Range Nuc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: McNeilly, John H, Rothstein, Bernice D
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
AIR LAUNCHED
ARMS CONTROL
CALIBRATION
DOSIMETERS
GAMMA RAYS
Government and Political Science
GUIDED MISSILE WARHEADS
MONITORING
NEUTRON DETECTORS
NUCLEAR FORCES(MILITARY)
Nuclear Instrumentation
NUCLEAR RADIATION
NUCLEAR WARHEADS
Nuclear Weapons
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATION MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
SENSITIVITY
START TREATY
START(STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TALKS)
TEST AND EVALUATION
TREATIES
VERIFICATION
WUDH333910
WUDH333920
WUDH333930
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:Radiation detection equipment (RDE) will be used under the START treaty to verify that air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM) declared to be non- nuclear do not contain nuclear warheads and to verify that certain containers do not contain radiation attenuating material. Under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, neutron RDE was used and it is proposed that the same RDE be used for the START Treaty. However, the On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) has established a requirement for commercially available, lighter weight and smaller equipment than the INF RDE. As a result of the OSIA requirements, the DNA undertook a test project to evaluate selected neutron RDE to determine if any of the available instrument could satisfy the START monitoring requirements. Several different RDE, including the INF RDE, were exposed to calibration sources at Andrews Air Force Base and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and to actual nuclear warheads at LANL. The results of these tests indicated that, unless there are significant changes in the Treaty procedures related to neutron source strength, detector-to-source distance, and/or data accumulation time, only one commercially available RDE could favorably compared with the INF RDE. However, there would be little savings in weight or size.