Development of synthetic nuclear melt glass for forensic analysis

Joshua J Molgaard; John D Auxier 2nd; Andrew V Giminaro; C J Oldham; Matthew T Cook; Stephen A Young; Howard L Hall

doi:10.1007/s10967-015-3941-8

Development of synthetic nuclear melt glass for forensic analysis

J Radioanal Nucl Chem. 2015;304(3):1293-1301. doi: 10.1007/s10967-015-3941-8. Epub 2015 Jan 20.

Authors

Joshua J Molgaard¹, John D Auxier 2nd², Andrew V Giminaro², C J Oldham³, Matthew T Cook³, Stephen A Young⁴, Howard L Hall⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA ; Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY 10996 USA.
² Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA ; Radiochemistry Center of Excellence (RCoE), University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA.
³ Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA.
⁴ Engineering Science and Mechanics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA.
⁵ Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA ; Radiochemistry Center of Excellence (RCoE), University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA ; Institute for Nuclear Security, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA.

Abstract

A method for producing synthetic debris similar to the melt glass produced by nuclear surface testing is demonstrated. Melt glass from the first nuclear weapon test (commonly referred to as trinitite) is used as the benchmark for this study. These surrogates can be used to simulate a variety of scenarios and will serve as a tool for developing and validating forensic analysis methods.

Keywords: Debris; Melt glass; Morphology; Nuclear forensics; Nuclear weapons; Trinitite.