May 22 – The fight against nuclear smuggling has a new ally in MODES_SNM. Successfully tested in the ports of Rotterdam, Dublin and in an English airport, the Italian project sees the University of Padua is scientific coordinator. MODES_SNM stands for Mobile Detection System for Special Nuclear Material; the project kicked off in January 2012 and aims to build a prototype of a mobile modular detection system for special nuclear and radioactive sources to intercept illegal border traffic. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, from 1993 to 2006 there have been 1080 confirmed events around the world of radioactive and nuclear material illicit trafficking. The Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Padova has been scientific coordinator for the thirty months of the team that brings together the University of Insubria, the University of Liverpool, ETH Zurich, the Institute of Nuclear Research in Warsaw, the Irish Customs, the Swiss ARKTIS, specialized in producing ionizing radiation detectors and the Italian CAEN, a leader in the production of nuclear electronics. During the first twenty months, the components of the system (detectors, electronics, software) were developed, integrated and qualified. The University of Padua designed the data acquisition software, the analysis, and definition of the information to be provided to the operator. The final product was finally mounted inside a vehicle so as to be able to be as a mobile system.
