Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
JORDAN / NUCLEAR DETECTION
STORY: JORDAN / NUCLEAR DETECTION
TRT: 2.34
SOURCES: CTBTO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DATELINE: 20, 29 NOVEMBER 2014, DEAD SEA AREA, JORDAN (IFE14) / JULY 2011, JULY 2014, TAKASAKI, JAPAN (CTBTO RADIONUCLIDE AND NOBLE GAS STATION) / MAY 2014, CTBTO HEADQUARTERS, VIENNA, AUSTRIA /
20, 29 NOVEMBER 2014, DEAD SEA AREA, JORDAN (IFE14)
1. Wide shot, three scientists enter the Noble Gas
2. Med shot, the three scientists dealing with a gas bottle
3. Close up, the gas bottle as it is laid down on the ground
4. Close up, hands typing into a computer
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Derek Haas, IFE14 Inspection Team Member:
“Right now we’re receiving the samples from the field. They’re in compressed bottles. We’re completing the chain of custody on them and then we’ll take them to the lab.”
6. Med shot, Haas brings two bottles wrapped in plastic bags into the lab
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Derek Haas, IFE14 Inspection Team Member:
“So now we’ll connect these samples to the analysis system, purify the gas and count them.”
8. Close up, gas purification unit
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Derek Haas, IFE14 Inspection Team Member:
“We’ll run them through a Xenon analyser, then we’ll take part of the sample as well and run it through an Argon analyser. And the results from these two systems will be interpreted to try and figure out if there is the smoking gun here.”
10. Wide shot, Chinese scientist inside the Noble Gas laboratory
11. Close up, yellow ‘caution’ label attached to the Argon 37 detector machine
12. Pan right, from the Argon 37 detector, ‘MARDS-II’ to the Chinese scientist
13. Close up, scientist.
14. Close up, computer screen showing graphs and diagrams
JULY 2011, JULY 2014, TAKASAKI, JAPAN (CTBTO RADIONUCLIDE AND NOBLE GAS STATION)
15. Wide shot, white noble gas station building
16. Close up, equipment: ‘Detector A’
17. Med shot, room with equipment: two large metal cylindrical devices
18. Close up, computer screen with data, back of head of expert
19. Close up, analyst
20. Med shot, analyst measuring radioactivity of sample
21. Close up, equipment: meter measuring radioactivity
FILE – MAY 2014, CTBTO HEADQUARTERS, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
22.Wide shot, Memorial Plaza fountain
23. Wide shot, two analysts working in the control room with monitors on the walls showing monitoring stations
24. Close up, computer screen with revolving globe showing seismic events
20, 29 NOVEMBER 2014, DEAD SEA AREA, JORDAN (IFE14)
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Lars Johann Kastlander, IFE14 Inspection Team Member:
“Together we can make a larger platform so that we can analyse more samples in total than we could if we only had one system for example. And it’s also good to work together to exchange ideas and technical solutions etc.”
26. Wide shot, person dressed in red – James Hayes – in front of noble gas laboratory
27. SOUNDBITE (English) James Hayes, Noble Gas Expert:
“This collaboration has been very successful. The instrumentation inside of the container is working quite well. We’ve been able to exercise many samples on the xenon system, and soon we’ll be exercising argon samples on the argon system. And the container holds up quite well; it provides a stable environment for the instruments.”
28. Wide shot, base of operations from above
A highly sensitive field laboratory to carry out a forensic investigation of a possible nuclear explosion brings together equipment developed by Chinese, American, Russian, and European scientists to strengthen the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty’s verification system.
A portion of the field laboratory is being used to detect radioactive noble gas isotopes as part of an On-Site Inspection exercise called IFE14, being played out near the Dead Sea in Jordan in November and December of this year.
A set of sensitive mobile systems have been specifically designed to detect radionuclide isotopes from nuclear explosions. If detected in sufficient quantities from an underground source, they can be considered as smoking gun evidence of a nuclear test.
SOUNDBITE (English) Derek Haas, IFE14 Inspection Team Member:
“Right now we’re receiving the samples from the field. They’re in compressed bottles. We’re completing the chain of custody on them and then we’ll take them to the lab. So now we’ll connect these bottles to the analysis system, purify the gas and count them. We’ll run them through a Xenon analyser, then we’ll take part of the sample as well and run it through an Argon analyser. And the results from these two systems will be interpreted to try and figure out if there is the smoking gun here.”
This unique collaboration brings together a highly sensitive Xenon analyser developed by researchers in Sweden with funding from the European Union, and a sophisticated Argon 37 analyser developed by the Chinese. Additionally, a second Chinese system also separates out the Xenon, which is measured on either a Russian developed Silica Pin detector, or by the High Purity Germanian Detectors provided by Britain’s Atomic Weapons Establishment.
After an underground nuclear explosion, radioactive noble gases can seep through layers of rock and sediment until they escape into the air. Measurement of the gases from the subsurface can help provide conclusive evidence as to the nuclear nature of the explosion.
The CTBTO currently has 66 radionuclide stations in operation across the globe, 30 of which can detect noble gases from an uncontained nuclear event. The network made a significant detection of Xenon isotopes that could be attributed to the nuclear test North Korea announced on 12 February 2013.
SOUNDBITE (English) Lars Johann Kastlander, IFE14 Inspection Team Member:
“Together we can make a larger platform so that we can analyse more samples in total than we could if we only had one system for example. And it’s also good to work together to exchange ideas and technical solutions etc.”
The equipment is housed in a specially developed container made by the US team.
SOUNDBITE (English) James Hayes, Noble Gas Expert:
“This collaboration has been very successful. The instrumentation inside of the container is working quite well. We’ve been able to exercise many samples on the Xenon system, and soon we’ll be exercising Argon samples on the Argon system. And the container holds up quite well; it provides a stable environment for the instruments.”
This mobile laboratory offers yet another powerful tool in the Inspector’s kit for On-Site Inspection of suspected nuclear tests. Such On-Site Inspection exercises allow the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, the CTBTO, to develop its inspection capabilities for when the Treaty comes into force.
Download
There is no media available to download.
