Preliminary Investigation for the Development of Surrogate Debris from Nuclear Detonations in Marine-Urban Environments

No nuclear weapon has ever been detonated in a United States city. However, this also means the nuclear forensic community has no actual debris from which to develop analytical methods for source attribution, making the development of surrogate nuclear debris a vital undertaking. Moreover, the development of marine-urban debris presents an unusual challenge because unlike soil and urban structures, which remain compositionally consistent, the elemental composition of harbor and port waters fluctuates considerably due to natural phenomenon and human activity. Additionally, marine vessel composition and cargo can vary dramatically. While early US nuclear tests were carried out in shallow-water coastal areas, they did not represent the marine-urban environments of large cities and any residual debris will be ill suited for the development of modern forensic techniques. Given these technical complexities, it is critical to understand the environmental variations in order to develop realistic surrogate nuclear marine-urban debris. This project seeks to build a robust model for the New York/New Jersey harbor, the Port of Houston, and the Long Beach/Los Angeles harbor that statistically define the elemental composition of vaporized debris for follow-on neutron-activation and debris formation analysis. Analysis of these neutron and fractionation effects will support the development of unique surrogate debris samples that mimic the elemental content of actual nuclear debris from a marin-eurban detonation. These samples can then be utilized for the development of the analytical methods for post-detonation analysis and attribution

The Use of Tabletop Exercises in Nuclear Security Education

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of tabletop exercises (TTXs) in graduate nuclear security education, their effectiveness and their relationship to traditional forms of classroom instruction. The paper highlights both the benefits and challenges of TTX implementation—the former including higher student motivation and material retention, and the latter including motivational shifts toward “winning” and possible student exclusionary behavior. Design/methodology/approach - Survey results from 49 former students in a US university were collected electronically and combined with anecdotal evidence from student, facilitator and teaching assistant interviews following five iterations of a specifically designed, semester-long, TTX case study. The case study focused on securing a fictional nuclear facility. Findings - Students found the TTX more memorable and retained more course material when asked to compare the TTX’s effectiveness to long-term course projects in other courses. Their in-class motivations tended to shift from traditional classroom motivations toward “winning,” and “not letting down their classmates.” In some iterations, students also observed classmates becoming more tempted to cheat or otherwise violate academic ethics. Mitigation strategies to prevent such temptations (e.g. removing direct student vs student TTX structures) were found to be effective. Originality/value - This is the first report on the effective use of a semester-long TTX in a graduate nuclear security classroom. The flexibility of this instructional tool demonstrates its applicability to other classroom subjects including homeland security, emergency management, disease outbreak management and public policy among others