Nuclear Threat Reduction and Examples of Enabling Technologies
Abstract: The purpose of this talk is to provide an overview of the newly developed organic deuterated stilbene scintillator that is particularly suitable for neutron spectroscopy and new Bayesian inference unfolding algorithms to reconstruct unknown neutron spectra. The application of Bayesian inference and deep-learning algorithms to the non-destructive assay of spent nuclear fuel and the use of time-correlated signatures to provide an accurate estimate of the mass of special nuclear materials will also be presented. Improved neutron spectroscopy could help to address some of the technical issues in treaty-compliance monitoring.
In the second part of the talk, I will give a brief overview of the resurgent role of nuclear weapons in national security strategies, the threat that it poses to the public, and the risk mitigation approaches that are being debated. Recent events, including U.S. withdrawal from arms control treaties and the pursuit of new nuclear weapons capabilities in the nine nuclear weapons states, suggest we may be facing a resurgent nuclear arms race with its dangerous consequences. Given this situation, the American Physical Society has funded the Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction to reengage scientists with nuclear threat reduction.
Bio: Dr. Angela Di Fulvio is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before joining NPRE, Angela was a research scientist at the University of Michigan where she worked on radiation detection within the framework or the Consortium for Verification Technology. Neutron detection has been her primary research interest since her Ph.D. thesis, earned in 2012 from the University of Pisa (Italy). During her Ph.D., she experimentally characterized neutron beams for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy at the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics, using the superheated emulsion detectors. Shortly after graduation, she joined the laboratory where this technology was invented, at Yale University, and developed large emulsion modules for homeland security applications. Angela is a full member of the European Dosimetry Group and author or coauthor of more than 70 papers in conference proceedings and peer-reviewed journals.
Her current interests include the development of detection systems for safeguards applications, and techniques and algorithms for the radiation protection of the patient in radiation therapy.
