Researchers have successfully demonstrated for the first
time that laser-generated neutrons can be enlisted as a useful tool in the War
on Terror.
Los Alamos shows first nuclear material detection by single
short-pulse-laser-driven neutron source
Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have successfully
demonstrated for the first time that laser-generated neutrons can be enlisted
as a useful tool in the War on Terror.
The international research team in February used the
short-pulse laser at Los Alamos’s TRIDENT facility to generate a neutron beam
with novel characteristics that interrogated a closed container to confirm the
presence and quantity of nuclear material inside. The successful experiment
paves the way for creation of a table-top-sized or truck-mounted neutron
generator that could be installed at strategic locations worldwide to thwart
smugglers trafficking in nuclear materials.