On September 9th, 30 scientists from 10 IPNDV countries gathered at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN) in Mol to begin a 10-day international technology demonstration. This demonstration, born of the Partnership’s collaborative theoretical work throughout Phase I and Phase II, will test various methods for verifying the presence or absence of special nuclear material. Carrying out this exercise at SCK•CEN’s highly secure facilities enhances the realism of the activity because the conditions are similar to that of a real-life nuclear disarmament verification scenario.
Lessons learned from this exercise will help others to identify potential technologies for use in the future to verify the removal of fissile material from a nuclear weapon. Organizers at SCK•CEN hope that IPNDV partners can use the resulting data for further analysis of related verification challenges.
This demonstration is part of the IPNDV’s effort to take its work “from paper to practice”– testing technologies and concepts and working to demonstrate results.
View SCK•CEN’s official press release.
