Main Problems and Development Trends in Nuclear Forensics

Abstract

An analysis of the materials and reports on international forums organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency resulted in the compilation of a description of incidents involving illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials (NRM). Mistakes made during the incident investigations were revealed, which include the lack of interaction between NRM specialists, forensic experts, and law enforcement agencies during the investigation of criminal cases, collection, examination of evidence, and formulation of insufficiently justified conclusions. The informativeness of the analytical methods is shown, the most informative of them are identified; further, the directions for the development of the methodological support of the forensic examination of nuclear weapons are determined. Additionally, the approaches of training in the field of nuclear forensics and the possibilities of involving the resources of international organizations in this activity are identified.