Neutrino detectors useful: IAEA Monitoring Aus SSNs

Neutrino Detectors are currently very large. But perhaps they can be made small enough by the 2040s to monitor Australian nuclear submarine reactors.

In a highly technical article physicsworld reports July 18, 2022: 

Neutrino detectors could monitor treaty compliance by nuclear submarines

Two neutrino physicists in the US have proposed a novel way to detect the presence of weapons-grade uranium in nuclear-powered submarines without entering their reactor compartments. The procedure, which could be conducted in port while a submarine’s reactor is turned off, could help to safeguard against the diversion of highly-enriched uranium into weapons programmes.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons prohibits the transfer of nuclear material from civilian power plants – where it is monitored by the International Atomic Energy Association – to nuclear weapons. It does, however, permit its transfer to non-explosive military uses like nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. However, once nuclear material is transferred from the civilian realm to the military one, it becomes much harder to track.

…This concern has become more pressing as the US and UK have recently agreed to sell nuclear submarines to Australia – which is a non-nuclear state. Australia is unlikely to attempt to build a nuclear bomb, but the transfer of weapons-grade uranium to non-nuclear states underlines the need for a method of verifying that it is not diverted to make weapons….

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