The Office of Nonproliferation Policy of the Department of Energy (DOE/NA-241) requested Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to evaluate ultrasonic intrinsic tag (UIT) technology as a potential means to uniquely identify weapon components during dismantlement activities. PNNL performed a blind test to uniquely identify an item, solely based on UIT signatures out of a population of five inert trainers. A conclusion was that a high confidence exists that the ultrasonic intrinsic tag system is able to perform well as either a confidence building measure or an authenticating technology to assure an item is genuine. UIT signatures are intrinsic to the material and location on an item; therefore, external markings on an item were unnecessary. A fixture that mated to the lifting lugs of the B61 trainer was used to consistently place the UIT reader to the same location on an item to acquire a meaningful UIT signature.
Revised: February 19, 2004 |
Published: December 1, 2003