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NUCLEAR FORENSICS: THE SCIENCE
THAT HAUNTS ATOMIC CRIMES”
Author's Corner
“A tiny vial of enriched uranium is
discovered in a suitcase at a European
border.
No fingerprints, no labels.
Yet, through
Through advanced scientific analysis,
investigators were able to trace It's back
to a reactor thousands of miles away -
how?”
Name: Jiya Patel
What Is
Nuclear
Image 1: Nuclear Forensics Workshop
Forensic? Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iaea_imagebank/14609067874/
Nuclear forensics is a specialized
Introduction
branch of forensic science that
investigates nuclear or other In today’s world, where national security
radioactive materials- ranging from and scientific innovation collide, a silent
pre-detonation nuclear devices, threat looms in the shadows- nuclear
post-detonation nuclear debris, to trafficking. According to the International
smuggled environmental samples- Atomic Energy Agency’s illicit trafficking
to determine their origin, history, database, there have been over 4,075
and potential usage in criminal or incidents recorded since the early 1990s
terrorist activities. involving lost or stolen nuclear and other
Unlike traditional forensics, which radioactive material. experts believe this
studies fingerprints or DNA, number only scratches the surface of the
real global scale of nuclear trafficking.
