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Antineutrino Detectors Could Be Key To Monitoring Iran's Nuclear Program

agent elevator writes: Tech that analyzes antineutrinos might be the best way to keep tabs on Iran's nuclear program. The technology, which can tell how much of and what kind of plutonium and uranium are nearby, should be ready to serve as a nuclear safeguard in less than two years, according to IEEE Spectrum. In a simulation of the Arak nuclear plant, which the Iran deal requires be redesigned to make less plutonium, a detector parked outside in a shipping container could do the job.

49 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds good. by Xenkar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about we also install these in Israel, a country that has threatened to bomb its neighbors? They apparently have an extensive nuclear program that isn't inspected or regulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

    They are also a repressive country that denies same sex couples and interracial couples the right of marriage while their kin in the legal system and media forces it on us. It is 2015 and it is time Israel joins the rest of us in it.

    1. Re:Sounds good. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      They are also a repressive country that denies same sex couples and interracial couples the right of marriage while their kin in the legal system and media forces it on us.

      Congratulations, you win the award for the most idiotic guilt-by-association argument of the month.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:Sounds good. by foreverdisillusioned · · Score: 1

      The neighbors it threatened to bomb (but not with nuclear weapons) have repeatedly tried to wipe it off of the face of the earth. If you are talking about Iran in particular, they are still spending hundreds of millions of dollars on proxy armies to fight Israel, and some of these proxy forces openly carry flags showing mushroom clouds with words of the Qur'an in them. Israel had a peaceful partnership with Iran for decades before their revolution. There is no conceivable grievance, no conceivable motivation they have for bombing them except as self-defense. The most you could argue is that such a bombing (again, non-nuclear. No one has ever openly argued for a nuclear strike) would be a bad idea, but there is no reason at all that even the most unappologetically hawkish Israeli would advocate such a wasteful, risky thing except as self defense. I don't see how you could argue that there would be a subsequent plan to, for example, invade Iran and steal their resources.

      Their religion-based marriage system is fucked up, but civil partnership is already available and (as in most western liberal democracies) there is a fairly widespread movement to legalize it. Your claims of an interracial marriage ban is, of course, an outright lie rooted in the insane and obscene tendency of demented ultra-progressives to define religions as races.

  2. except the IAEA is still a thing. by nimbius · · Score: 3, Insightful

    monitoring irans nuclear project has already been done, full stop. the only countries clammouring about the lies and deceit of the Iranian program and is utter affront to mankind are Israel and the United States. the IAEAE reports are impartial, international, and widely regarded to have the final say that Iran is not in fact developing a nuclear weapon. But for the US this doesnt matter because internationally accepted standards of monitoring and regulatory observation do not apply to it. Israel objects to a nuclear program on any level as it represents energy independence and, this is key, the ability to emerge as a regional superpower capable of selling resources to neighbouring allies. Presently Oil is the currency to which most middle east nations operate, but if Iran emerged to provide clean nuclear power it would result in many nations being able to not only free up their own oil dependencies by purchasing the resource, but lend them more power against western interests through their increased autonomy. Iran itself would find relief from perpetual sanctions by the US and allies, and in doing so cement its already rising status as a regional power player.

    for the hawks, its also worth noting that Iran has already enriched to 'bombmaking' levels, and never once pursued the weapon. They did this after numerous assassinations of scientists by Israeli mossad, and a cyberattack by western security agencies. Iran is inflammatory, declaring the destruction of zionism (a form of government thats led to the palestinian apartheid, not the underlying religion of judaism) but so to is the US in calling for bombings of iran, iraq, and numerous proxy war states in the past.

    finally, the reason the US wants a deal is because its ability to project power and stability in the region has been delt a crippling blow after iraq and afghanistan, a domestic housing crisis and market collapse. the US understands that, deal or not, Iran will very soon have the ability to take a far more decisive role in domestic and regional politics than Washington can effectively control. the coup-and-replace shuffle doesnt work in south america anymore, as it increasingly doesnt work in the middle east. Think of this as baby steps toward a reconcilliation. The united states has a choice: partner with regional power centers or bleed itself dry for 50 more years protecting an apartheid state and an inconsequential amount of crude oil.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:except the IAEA is still a thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Only your third paragraph contained any truth. Iran has blocked and bribed monitors routinely, completed IRBM development once they could toss a nuclear warhead into eastern europe, and continues to fund terrorists. There is significant evidence that Iran has completed implosion testing for two different devices, one which is certainly not just a uranium device, and these negotiations are nothing more than a tacit acknowledgement that the western world has failed and that Iran is a nuclear state.

    2. Re:except the IAEA is still a thing. by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      The IAEA is probably the primary reason nuclear power has the shitty rep it has. Its behavior and impartiality concerning the impact of major accidents has been deplorable (chernobyl, fukushima and probably others too). I think they're still trotting out the chernobyl '5000' deaths bit. It's probably closer to 50000+, and hundreds of thousands with illness from exposure to massive radiation and toxic chemicals.

      I wouldn't trust the IAEA any more than I'd trust exxon-mobil's reporting on their tanker safety, or governments' reporting on upholding civil liberties.

    3. Re:except the IAEA is still a thing. by Goldsmith · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree that a new gadget doesn't actually change anything about nuclear monitoring in Iran. Also, you may want to see what IAEA actually said about Iran before making such a strong statement. You're flat out wrong about the IAEA and Iran. The IAEA repeatedly complained about Iran's lack of cooperation and militarization of nuclear sites. I also think you're underestimating the leverage the Iran had here. The US didn't have a choice, we HAD to make a deal because we lost this fight.

      You can't argue that Iran enriched to bombmaking levels and simultaneously claim they didn't pursue a weapon. Uranium for energy is 4% enriched. Uranium for a bomb practically starts at 20% enriched. Iran took material up to between 19% and 20%. Cute, because research reactors use that grade, but Iran was producing much more 19.75% LEU per month than their research reactors could use in a year. Using this material in an electricity generating reactor is needlessly expensive and wasteful. In sufficient quantities, this material can be made into a bomb, and Iran passed this "sufficient quantity" line a while ago. The purpose of IAEA inspections (and UN resolutions, sabotage, assassinations, sanctions, etc.) was to prevent this from happening. Crossing this line didn't send a message that they're just doing research or working on power systems. The message they sent to the international community is that they effectively had a bomb, and we couldn't stop them. That they then came to the negotiating table willing to throw that material out speaks to their willingness to be a civilized member of global society. Doubters will expect to see some of that material end up in the hands of terrorists, but whether that happens or not is a real test of Iranian intentions. If Iran simply wanted to nuke Israel, they could have done that already.

      It's not likely that they simply want a civilian power industry. If that's so, they're going about this very differently than other countries have. The "normal" way to do power industry uranium enrichment is to run enrichment using a multinational corporate entity "owned" by multiple governments. In this way, regional and worldwide rivals can keep eachother in check while ensuring a domestic, cost-effective supply of uranium. Brazil, Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan all have civilian power industries without weapons programs and without nationalized uranium enrichment. Each of those countries went through this transition to regional nuclear (electricity) power without the drama and dangerous actions Iran has taken (kicking out the IAEA inspectors).

      Now, it's completely absurd to argue that Iran will make money off of enriching uranium, the market is not there, and will not develop in the foreseeable future. The worldwide capacity for uranium enrichment is far in excess of what the power industry needs. After Fukushima, there is a huge surplus of power-grade uranium out there. Russia, in particular, runs it's enrichment factories well below capacity. Russia would love to supply uranium all over central Asia.

      It is also absurd to argue that that Iran would be unable to create a domestic source of uranium for electricity using the international standard structures. Several other regional power level countries have done this. Early in negotiations, when everyone thought Iran simply wanted a power industry, Russia offered to partner with them in the normal way. It would make sense for Iran to partner with other regional powers getting into nuclear energy (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan) as well. That we don't see the typical partnership out of this strongly implies that Iran wants more than a power industry. They want to be treated like part of the "nuclear weapon club" without triggering immediate war with Israel by actually testing a bomb.

      None of this means that the deal with Iran is bad, but everyone needs to be realistic about what's really going on. Iran has effectively had a bo

    4. Re:except the IAEA is still a thing. by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Then again you don't need that much highly enriched uranium for a thermonuclear weapon and 20% enriched uranium used in a commercial reactor has the advantage of not needing refueling for years. It is how submarine reactors work, for example.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    5. Re:except the IAEA is still a thing. by jonwil · · Score: 1

      Maybe the Iranians want to build nuclear powered naval vessels like the US and Russia have...

  3. And do what? by Kohath · · Score: 1, Insightful

    When antineutrinos are found, Iran will be sent a strongly worded letter protesting the resumption of their nuclear weapons program.

    1. Re:And do what? by smoothnorman · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Then, according to this inchoate treaty, (and many others like it), a demand would be made to inspect the site to prove no violation was underway. If there was no proof provided or allowed, then sanctions would be restored, or even military action taken, (as some warmongers desperately want already done immediately). But yet somehow i fear this simple honest reply wasn't the one that you were actually curious about?

    2. Re:And do what? by davester666 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Of course, you'll have to wait 24 days to actually be permitted to inspect anything.

      Good thing you can't move anything or alter the equipment in any meaningful way in a month.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    3. Re:And do what? by smoothnorman · · Score: 1

      What's your alternative? Surely it isn't to forget all diplomacy as pointlessly inefficient and so proceed to destroy all those (and their surrounding civilians) who would even appear to threaten us?

    4. Re:And do what? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Maybe the container will also comprise a sufficiently large bomb. ;)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:And do what? by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Sure. Blindly trust in diplomacy. Appeasement has successfully worked in the past, and there is every indication that Iran will be another success for it.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    6. Re:And do what? by smoothnorman · · Score: 2

      Where in the various treaties negotiated in the recent past has a "blind trust" as you term it, been an essential part? Seriously, you'd cast out all forms of diplomacy as being too trusting, and instead prefer war? Have you ever been in a war? Have you ever seen civilians killed because they had the misfortune of living nearby a perceived threat? If you had, then I believe that you would (eventually) prefer a flawed diplomacy to what promoters of war would profess to be the perfect solution.

    7. Re:And do what? by davester666 · · Score: 2

      This amounts to "we'll give you a bunch of money if you stick to just killing a bunch of people using conventional weapons".

      And way to extrapolate my argument for one specific situation to every situation everywhere.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  4. Who's gonna monitor the Saudi and Egyptian nukes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now that Iran is going to get nukes, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are going to try to get them, too.

    And thanks to Obumble's fecklessness with Ukraine (provoke a regime change that you know will lead to war, then run away), there isn't any country on Earth that is going to be willing to give up nukes ever again.

    This isn't the Hope and Change you expected, now is it?

    - Massive surveillance state
    - "Extrajudicial" killings of US citizens
    - Regime change in Libya that led to one of the worst failed states ever (and you thought Iraq was bad? But we can't publicized The Won's FAILURE in Libya, now can we?)
    - "The JV" in control of 3/4 of Syria and 1/3 of Iraq and inspiring if not actually conducting terrorist attacks inside the US.
    - Iran nuclear deal where Iran gets out from under crippling sanctions for paper promises they're going to walk away from (aka taqiya)

  5. Antineutrinos are for quarks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    You are all quarks. Quarks say whazblarp. WHHHAAAAZZZZBLARRRP! WHHHAAAAZZZZBLARRRP! Whazblarp say the quarks. YOU QUARKS!!

    1. Re:Antineutrinos are for quarks. by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

      There's only one Quark and there's no way you're taking his bar away from him.

      Unless the price is right, of course.

    2. Re:Antineutrinos are for quarks. by gweihir · · Score: 1

      I object to that. Why Quark may be a respectable Ferengi, I am certainly not one of them and neither do I want to become one.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    3. Re:Antineutrinos are for quarks. by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      You aren't a real ferengi unless you carry a plasma whip!

  6. let me get this straight by Crashmarik · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Iran gets 24 days warning before any inspection and has sites that can't be inspected at all .

    These short range detectors are going to help how ? All they have to do is move the material around.

    1. Re:let me get this straight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No. It's virtually impossible to clean up the site to the level that the residue cannot be detected.

    2. Re:let me get this straight by Crashmarik · · Score: 3, Informative

      Military sites are off limits from inspection so the point is moot.

  7. And what was wrong with keep sanctions on Iran? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Obama's straw man was the only alternative to this deal was to allow Iran getting nukes because we couldn't stop them.

    We still can't stop them, but we've removed sanctions.

    And isn't it nice that with Congressional approval still required, Obama's saying that if Congress disapproves the deal, Iran still gets out from under sanctions?

    WHAT THE FUCK?

    Did Obama just negotiate an agreement subject to Congressional approval that's still in force even if it's not approved?

    1. Re:And what was wrong with keep sanctions on Iran? by Agripa · · Score: 1

      To be fair, nothing in the Budapest Memorandum requires the US to take action other than maybe to consult with the other signers which is of course next to useless. We did more than the treaty requires by bringing the situation up with the UN.

      That however does not make the situation any better. The lesson is still not to rely on the US and provide for your own defense using nuclear weapons as a deterrent if possible.

  8. Antineutrino Detectors? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

    What the fuck is this? Star Trek?

    No, seriously, we can detect antineutrinos? From space? Warp drives and teleportation can't be far behind!

  9. Majoriana particle? by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 2

    Oh, it gets better.

    We don't know if there's even a *difference* between a neutrino and an antineutrino. It may in fact be its own antiparticle.

    And then there's this thing about how they each oscillate among three types.

    1. Re:Majoriana particle? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

      So... it's got two states (kind of like being dead and alive at the same time), and there's three types of oscillation (like the holy trinity)?

      I can't wait until the religious people hear about this one!

    2. Re:Majoriana particle? by AchilleTalon · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter at all if they are or not their own antiparticle as it doesn't matter at all if they oscillate, the distance is way to short for them to oscillate anyway. They travel at the speed of light, it takes seconds for them to show some oscillation pattern. Detecting neutrinos/antineutrinos is the same thing for the purpose of identifying forbidden nuclear activities.

      --
      Achille Talon
      Hop!
    3. Re:Majoriana particle? by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 1

      [Neutrinos] travel at the speed of light...

      They don't.

    4. Re:Majoriana particle? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      The religious people in Iran would frown on that. ;)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:Majoriana particle? by manu0601 · · Score: 1

      I can't wait until the religious people hear about this one!

      If you refer to the ones that invented temporary marriage to meet prostitutes without committing a sin, I guess they will be able to handle your quantum story.

  10. You know what would have been easier? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You know what would have been even easier than trying to detect a particle we don't even know really exists?

    NOT LETTING THEM BUILD A BOMB IN THE FIRST PLACE!

    I mean, great job, Obama, according to your own advisers, you've given Iran a one-year path to building an atomic bomb. Maybe we should have kept the framework in place that was actually working at preventing them from building nukes?

    Oh, and I note that the article claims that these "anti-neutrino" detectors could be available as soon as two years from now. Which is notably after the one-year "breakout" period Obama himself says Iran will need to finish a bomb. (The idea being that they won't be able to hide it from us over that year. You know, because that worked so well with North Korea.)

  11. Clinton had a "no nukes" deal w/ North Korea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative
  12. And Jewish State's Nuclear program? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Dice are a filthy bunch of ZIONIST RACISTS who never focus on the massive arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons held by JEWISH STATE. And of course, the partnership between Jewish State and Islamic State (paralleling the partnership between the FRONTS, Israel and Saudi Arabia) is never discussed here either.

    Iran stands as the LAST powerful entity opposing Jewish State and Islamic State, which is zionist organisations like Dice are so determined to see Iran taken out. Google, owned and controlled by several senior members of Jewish State, is on a TRILLION dollar mission to build robotic killing machines for the US War Machine, precisely so American sheeple can be persuaded to accept an American war against Iran.

    Only BETA SHEEPLE are so thick, they NEVER question a 'rule' or 'law' only applied to one side or one group of people. Last year, for instance, Jewish State used weapon systems specifically designed to fight a World War to HOLOCAUST Gaza. 100% of the US Congress- Jewish State patsies to the last man and woman- unanimously voted to support the mass murdering war-crimes of Jewish State. And, of course, today that same bunch of politicians is supporting the destruction of Yemen by Islamic State and Jewish State (Jewish and Sunni pilots are flying day and night bombing raids, under Saudi colours, against all the major civilian infrastructure centres of Yemen).

    Will YOU applaud Dice for continuing to promote Jewish State terror propaganda on this site?

  13. 24 days allows for a lot of cleanup and removal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    No. It's virtually impossible to clean up the site to the level that the residue cannot be detected.

    You don't clean the room. You remove the room. You build a room within a room if residue is an issue, you have 24 days to remove the inner contaminated materials.

    Plus some residue may be within treaty rules. Allowed to produce X amount of material but you actually produce 10x. 24 days to dial the equipment back down and remove excess production.

  14. Motherfucking savage by Bathroom+Humor · · Score: 1

    I hate that I saw this bullshit and actually loved it.

  15. vaporware by SylvesterTheCat · · Score: 1

    ...should be ready to serve as a nuclear safeguard in less than two years

    a detector parked outside in a shipping container could do the job.

    How does this really help us NOW?
    Assuming that such a detector is possible, can be built, and does work, then the next problem is getting the Iranians to allow it to be emplaced and not tampered.
    Also, who pays for it? Money stopped growing on trees sometime ago. As a US taxpayer, why should I have to foot the bill for something to ensure that a rogue state is playing by the rules to which they agreed?

  16. Antineutrino? by jfdavis668 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why are everyone against neutrinos? Why not a nice pro-neutrino detector. How about some support for our tiny mass brethren?

    1. Re:Antineutrino? by Required+Snark · · Score: 1
      Well little buddy, the reason that we need an anti-neutrino detector is because Iran is full of bad guys, and like the bad guys in the old westerns they wear bad guy colors, like wearing a black hat. If they were good guys like us they would be wearing a good guy color, like a white hat.

      But neutrinos don't have colors since they are leptons. Colors are photonic, and photons are bosons and have different statistics then leptons. Since neutrinos can't have color, the equivalent for bad guy leptons is that they are anti-neutrinos. Good guys have neutrinos, and bad guys have anti-neutrinos. It makes perfect sense once you understand the quantum mechanics involved.

      People on Slashdot are always nice and are happy to answer any question you ask. Any time you are confused just ask and people here will be glad to help out. Now fuck off.

      --
      Why is Snark Required?
  17. Don't even bother by 0dugo0 · · Score: 1

    Nobody gives a shit about these safeguards, now get with the program and find a pretext to invade the place already.

    1. Re:Don't even bother by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      To hell with that. We tore Iraq apart, got rid of the crazy fuckers running it and now there's a power vacuum there that the madmen running ISIS are determined to fill. If we tear Iran down then ISIS will start trying to run that too. Maybe we could acknowledge the fact that we can't fix a place that's been fucked up since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and stick to just playing one side against the other. North Korea got nukes and we survived that and I guess we'll survive Iran getting them. At least I hope so because we just caved in on them getting their own nukes. It should get interesting with Israel on one side and Iran on the other. A "mini" cold war maybe?

  18. Same straw man as the president. by dfenstrate · · Score: 1

    Where in the various treaties negotiated in the recent past has a "blind trust" as you term it, been an essential part? Seriously, you'd cast out all forms of diplomacy as being too trusting, and instead prefer war? Have you ever been in a war? Have you ever seen civilians killed because they had the misfortune of living nearby a perceived threat? If you had, then I believe that you would (eventually) prefer a flawed diplomacy to what promoters of war would profess to be the perfect solution.

    There are other options besides this crap deal and war. But neither Obama nor you want to talk about them, because they'd make the president look like the fool* he is.

    *and that's the most generous term applicable.

    --
    Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
  19. Re:warning: your foil hat is on too tight by KGIII · · Score: 1

    While I agree with your sentiment and facts the only thing I disagree with is "owes." The term is "owed" and that could be debated but is not important. Israel is wearing their big-boy panties and can fend for themselves. They are not owed anything any more other than respect as a nation and the sovereignty that goes with it as well as any treaty obligations. I could also argue an obligation to protect does not exist, we are not the world's police and can not afford to be, but that is immaterial.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  20. Re:Islam is our only hope by kheldan · · Score: 1

    AC, people like you make a good argument for the Internet going back to pre-1990's era, where only Universities, the military, and the government had access to the Internet: The surest way to ruin a good thing is to get too many people involved with it.

    You're not funny, you're not clever, you're not even remotely interesting, and you're not wanted. Just leave. Go take up basket weaving, or knitting, or some other handcraft, rather than spewing your verbal diarrhea all over the Internet via your keyboard.

    Now, back to the actual topic-at-hand: Can these anti-neutrino detectors work from a satellite in geosynchronous orbit? If so, then why not implement them that way?

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  21. Re:Who's gonna monitor the Saudi and Egyptian nuke by kbahey · · Score: 1

    Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia are signatories in the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). So, it would be very unlikely that either would start developing nuclear weapons now.

    The general consensus is that it was a stupid move to sign for that while Israel, a neighbor and foe, did not sign the same terms.

  22. Re:Except, of course... by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

    Iran has a sinister and evil plan. At the table, they will cast a vote recognizing they are in violation, and an outraged US will oppose its veto.