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DTRA’s advancements in nuclear and radiological detection
A new, more complex nuclear age has begun. Echoing the tensions of the Cold War amid rapidly evolving nuclear and radiological threats, preparedness in the modern age is a contest of scientific innovation. The Research and Development Directorate (RD) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is charged with winning this contest.
Jonathan E. Morgan
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 1 | December 2021 | Pages S231-S265
Critical Review | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1909371
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
As the Manhattan Project shifted to the theory of implosion assembly in 1944, plutonium was extremely rare and large uncertainties surrounded the function of the Gadget. For these reasons, a team within the Manhattan Project began another ambitious experiment: to confine the effects of detonating two tons of high explosives and enable the recovery of precious plutonium! No data existed on the subject, and the team f25aced numerous challenges as they engineered what is believed to be the world’s first blast-loaded confinement vessel.