SHIELD (Smuggled HEU Interdiction through Enhanced anaLysis and Detection): A Framework for Developing Novel Detection Systems Focused on Interdicting Shielded HEU

Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station

SHIELD (Smuggled HEU Interdiction through Enhanced anaLysis and Detection): A Framework for Developing Novel Detection Systems Focused on Interdicting Shielded HEU

Abstract:

See the SHIELD website; for the most complete information on this project.

The growing violence in terrorist attacks has resulted in a greater awareness of the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism. Securing the borders from any attempt to transport a nuclear or radiological device into the U.S. is a critical need and requires the application of the vast array of technical capabilities at U.S. universities. Current detector technology is inadequate for several important smuggling scenarios, including the interdiction of shielded high-enriched uranium (HEU) being smuggled in cargo or on a vehicle into the U.S. This threat necessitates the development of improved inspection policies and advanced detector systems composed of detector arrays that fully integrate all available signal information with inverse analysis simulations to provide revolutionary improvements in the performance of border monitoring technology.

Transformational research and development in border monitoring technology necessitates the use of advanced simulations to select the best technology in order to increase the probability of detection while retaining acceptable levels of false positives and adequate traffic flow. Thus, the integration of diverse fields such as mathematics, computer science, nuclear engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, and political science provides the greatest opportunity to revolutionize border monitoring technology by generating and analyzing new concepts and approaches. This project will provide the framework for analyzing the next generation of detector technologies and will result in a toolset to be used for the development and analysis of future detection technologies and the deployment of advanced sensor arrays.

The key objective of this project is to demonstrate the ability to develop, analyze and deploy new detector concepts with fully integrated signal and information analysis to attain breakthrough improvements in the nation\’s ability to detect domestic nuclear threats. The project has three additional sub-objectives that will be achieved during project execution: (1) to integrate social science/policy factors into the detection system parameter space, (2) to enhance the education of undergraduate and graduate science and engineering students in areas related to nuclear security and border monitoring research, and (3) to generate self-sustaining research teams which will continue to expand fundamental knowledge in key nuclear detection fields.

Illustration of the Smuggling Process

Illustration of the Smuggling Process

Associated Publications:

  1. R. Coogan, C.M. Marianno, and W.S. Charlton, "A Strategic Analysis of Stationary Radiation Portal Monitors and Mobile Detection Systems in Border Monitoring", Nuclear Engineering and Technology, 52, 3 (2020).

  2. R. Coogan, "A Strategic Analysis of Stationary Radiation Portal Monitors and Mobile Detection Systems in Border Monitoring", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2019).

  3. M.B. Fitzmaurice, C.M. Marianno, A.A. Solodov , "Developing a Methodology for Determination of Elemental Composition of Shielding Materials", Journal of Health Physics, 109, 4 (2015).

  4. C.M. Ryan , C.M. Marianno, W.S. Charlton, A.A. Solodov, J. Livesay, and B. Goddard, "Predicting Concrete Roadway Contribution to Gamma-ray Background in Radiation Portal Monitor Systems", Nuclear Technology, 186, 3 (2014).

  5. M.D. Grypp, C.M. Marianno, J.W. Poston, G.C. Hearn, "Design of a Spreader Bar Crane-Mounted Gamma Ray Radiation Detection System", Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 743 (2014).

  6. G. Hearn, C.M. Marianno, S. Khatri, M. Grypp, "List Mode with the ORTEC digibase-E", Journal of Health Physics, 106 (2014).

  7. J. Webster, "Cost-Sensitive Classification Methods for the Detection of Smuggled Nuclear Material in Cargo Containers", Ph.D. Dissertation, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2013).

  8. M. Grypp C.M. Marianno, "An Analysis of a Spreader Bar Crane Mounted Gamma Ray Radiation Detection System", 58th Annual Health Physics Society Meeting, Madison, Wisconsin, 10 July 2013.

  9. E.A. Pedicini, C.M. Marianno, and W.S. Charlton, "Passive Neutron Detection in Ports for Homeland Security Applications", 58th Annual Health Physics Society Meeting, Madison, Wisconsin, 10 July 2013.

  10. E. Pedicini, "Passive Neutron Detection in Ports for Homeland Security Applications", M.S. Thesis, Texas A & M University, May 2013.

  11. M. Grypp, "An Analysis of a Spreader Bar Crane Mounted Gamma-Ray Radiation Detection System", Ph.D. Dissertation, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2013).

  12. L. Holew, W.S. Charlton, E. Miller, and S. Pozzi, "Using Neutron Angular Anisotropy Information to Dynamically Determine the Ratio of the (α,n) Rate to Spontaneous Fission Rate for Coincidence Counting Applications", Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 701 (2013).

  13. M. Allmaras, D. Darrow, Y. Hristova, G. Kanschat, P. Kuchment, "Detecting Small Low Emission Radiating Sources", Inverse Problems and Imaging, 7, 1 (2013).

  14. M. Fitzmaurice, "Developing a Methodology for Characterizing the Effects of Building Materials' Natural Radiation Background on a Radiation Portal Monitoring System", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2012).

  15. G. Hearn, "Mutable Detector Array Software for the Detection of Gamma Emissions in Classrooms and the Field", M.S. Thesis, Health Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2012).

  16. D.M. Grypp and C.M. Marianno, "Gamma Radiation Detection from a Spreader Bar Crane at the Port of Tacoma", Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Sacramento, California, 22-26 July 2012.

  17. M.B. Fitzmaurice, A.A. Solodov, C.M. Marianno, W.S. Charlton, J. Livesay, and T. Guzzardo., "Developing a Methodology for Characterization of Building Materials' Natural Radiation Background and Integration into an MCNP Model for Radiation Portal Monitoring Systems", 53rd Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, Orlando, Florida, 15-19 July 2012.

  18. J.M. Osborn, C.M. Marianno, A.A. Solodov, W.S. Charlton, "Concrete Characterization Using Gamma-ray Interaction Methods", 53rd Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Material Management, Orlando, FL, July 15-19, 2012.

  19. N. Fredette, "Imaging Heterogeneous Objects Using Transport Theory and Newton's Method", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2012).

  20. Y. Yang, H. Deshpande, G. Choi, P. Gratz, "Exploiting Path Diversity for Low-Latency and High-Bandwidth with the Dual-Path NoC Router", IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, ISCAS 2012, Seoul, Korea, 20-23 May 2012.

  21. A. Elshennawy, C. Marianno, S. Khatri, "Efficient Solid State Gamma Radiation Detector", Symposium on Radiation Measurements and Applications (SORMA) 2012, Berkeley, CA, May 14-17, 2012.

  22. D. Bruss, "DSA Preconditioning for the Sn Equations with Strictly Positive Spatial Discretization", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2012).

  23. L. Holewa, "Angular Anisotropy of Correlated Neutrons in Lab Frame of Reference and Application to Detection and Verification", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2012).

  24. S. Revis, "Determination and Mitigation of Precipitation Effects on Portal Monitor Gamma Background Levels", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2012).

  25. S-H Wu, C-C Lin, M. Zhu, Y. Kuo, "Light Wavelength Effects on the Performance of a-Si:H PIN Photodiode", MRS Proc. Symp. A: Amorphous and Polycrystalline Thin-Film Silicon Science and Technology, San Fransisco, CA, April 9 - April 13, 2012.

  26. M. Grypp, "Gamma Radiation Detection from a Spreader Bar Crane at the Port of Tacoma", 2012 Meeting of the South Texas Chapter of the Health Physics Society, College Station, TX, 14 April 2012.

  27. C.M. Ryan, C.M. Marianno, W.S. Charlton, W.D. James, "Neutron activation analysis of concrete for cross-border nuclear security", Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 291 (2012).

  28. G.M. Gaukler, C. Li, S.S. Chirayath, and Y. Ding, "Detecting Nuclear Materials Smuggling: Performance Evaluation of Container Inspection Policies", Risk Analysis, 32, 3 (2012).

  29. Q. Li, M. Fuhrmann, B.R. Early, A. Vedlitz, "Preferences, Knowledge, and Citizen Assessments of the Terrorism Risks of Nuclear Power", Review of Policy Research, 29, 2 (2012).

  30. J. Ragusa, J.-L. Guermond, G. Kanschat, "A robust Sn-DG-approximation for radiation transport in optically thick and diffusive regimes", Journal of Computational Physics, 231, 4 (2012).

  31. G. Spence, "Directionally Sensitive Neutron Detector For Homeland Security Applications", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2011).

  32. X. Xun, B. Mallick, R. Carroll, P. Kuchment, "Bayesian Approach to Detection of Small Low Emission Sources", Inverse Problems, 27 (2011).

  33. S.D. Pautz, T. Pya, and M.L. Adams, "Scalable Parallel Prefix Solvers for Discrete Ordinates Transport in Multidimensions", Nuclear Science and Engineering, 169, 3 (2011).

  34. G.M. Gaukler, "A Framework for Modeling the Detection of Smuggled Nuclear Materials", INFORMS Annual Conference, Charlotte, NC, 13 November 2011.

  35. G.M. Gaukler, "“Science of Better” podcast on nuclear smuggling interdiction", INFORMS, http://www.scienceofbetter.org/podcast/gaukler.html, November 2011.

  36. G.R. Spence, "A Boron Loaded Approach to Directionally Sensitive Neutron Detectors", 52nd Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), Palm Desert, CA, July 17-21, 2011.

  37. L. Holewa, W.S. Charlton, "Angular Anisotropy of Correlated Neutrons and Application to Detection and Verification", 52nd Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), Palm Desert, CA, July 17-21, 2011.

  38. C.M. Marianno and C.M. Ryan, "Examining a Potential Technique to Determine Gamma-Ray Background for Radiation Portal", Canberra Users Group Meeting, Dallas, TX, July 11-15, 2011.

  39. D. Bruss, J. Morel, and J. Ragusa, "Preconditioned JFNK Methods for Radiation Transport with a Positive Nonlinear Spatial Moment Closure", ICIAM 2011 (International Congress for Industrial and Applied Mathematics), Vancouver, Canada, July 18-22, 2011.

  40. J-L Guermond, G. Kanschat, and J. Ragusa, "DG Approximation of the Radiative Transfer Equations", ICIAM 2011 (International Congress for Industrial and Applied Mathematics), Vancouver, Canada, July 18-22, 2011.

  41. G.M. Gaukler, C. Li, R. Cannaday, S.S. Chirayath, and Y. Ding, "Detecting Nuclear Materials Smuggling: using Radiography to improve Container Inspection Policies", Annals of Operation Research, 187, 1 (2011).

  42. Y. Kuo, invited paper., "Nonvolatile Memories for Nano and Giga Electronics", 2011 International Conference on Semiconductor Technology for Ultra Large Scale Integrated Circuits and Thin Film Transistors, Hong Kong, China, June 26 - July 1, 2011.

  43. S.E. Robinson, X. Liu, A. Vedlitz, "Public Support for the Department of Homeland Security", Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 8, 1 (2011).

  44. C.M. Ryan, "Determining the Impact of Concrete Roadways on Gamma Ray Background Readings for Radiation Portal Monitoring Systems", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2011).

  45. C.M. Ryan, C.M. Marianno, W.S. Charlton, A.A. Solodov, R.J. Livesay, "Determining the Effect of Concrete Roadways on Gamma-ray Background for Radiation Portal Monitoring Systems", 33rd ESARDA Annual Meeting: Symposium on Safeguards and Nuclear Material Management, May 16-20, 2011, Budapest, Hungary.

  46. G.M. Gaukler, "Interdicting Nuclear Smuggling in a Port Network", IIE Annual Conference, Reno, NV, May 23, 2011.

  47. J.J. Jarrell and M.L. Adams, "Discrete-ordinates quadrature sets based on linear discontinuous finite elements", Proc. International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 8-12 (2011).

  48. T. Pandya, M.L. Adams, and W.D. Hawkins, "Long characteristics with piecewise linear sources designed for unstructured grids", Proc. International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 8-12 (2011).

  49. M. Allmaras, D. Darrow, Y. Hristova, G. Kanschat, P. Kuchment, "Detecting small low emission radiating sources", Poster presented at the Applied Inverse Problems Conference, College Station, TX, 23-27 May 2011.

  50. W. S. Charlton, W. Bangerth, D. R. Boyle, S. S. Chirayath, G. Gaukler, C. Marianno, A. Vedlitz, "SHIELD: A Framework for Evaluating and Guiding Nuclear Detection System Development", The 4th annual Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) Academic Research Initiative (ARI) Grantees Conference, Alexandria, Virginia, April 26-28, 2011.

  51. G. M. Gaukler, Y. Ding, C. Li, S.S. Chirayath, "A Systems Framework for Modeling the Detection of Smuggled Nuclear Materials", Poster presented at The 4th annual Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) Academic Research Initiative (ARI) Grantees Conference, Alexandria, Virginia, April 26-28, 2011.

  52. E. Brown, B. Eldridge, D. Rodriguez, G. M. Gaukler, Y. Ding, C. Li, "Modeling the Detection of Smuggled Nuclear Materials at Land Border Crossings", Poster presented at The 4th annual Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) Academic Research Initiative (ARI) Grantees Conference, Alexandria, Virginia, April 26-28, 2011.

  53. R.G. McClarren, J. Madsen, M.L. Adams, M.P. Adams, N. Amato, N. Castet, S.S. Chirayath, W.D. Hawkins, L. Rauchwerger, T. Smith, "Deterministic Transport Capability for HEU Sources in Cargo Containers", Poster presented at The 4th annual Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) Academic Research Initiative (ARI) Grantees Conference, Alexandria, Virginia, April 26-28, 2011.

  54. M. Adams, N. Amato, M. Allmaras, W. Bangerth, S. Chirayath, J-L Guermond, G. Kanschat, P. Kuchment, J. Morel, J. Ragusa, L. Rauchwerger, J. Webster, "Detecting Small Low Emission Radiating Sources", Poster presented at The 4th annual Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) Academic Research Initiative (ARI) Grantees Conference, Alexandria, Virginia, April 26-28, 2011.

  55. C.M. Ryan, C.M. Marianno, W.S. Charlton, and W.D. James, "Neutron Activation Analysis of Concrete for Cross-Border Nuclear Security", 13th International Conference on Modern Trends in Activation Analysis, College Station, TX, March 13-18, 2011.

  56. Y. Kuo, invited paper, "Floating-Gate a-Si:H Thin-Film Transistor Nonvolatile Memory Device", 7th International TFT Conference, Cambridge, UK, March 3, 2011.

  57. C.M. Marianno G. Hearn, "Development of a Detection Array for Field Work and Instructional Laboratories", Mid-Year Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Charleston, South Carolina, February 6-9, 2011.

  58. G. Tanase, A. Buss, A. Fidel, Harshvardhan, I. Papadopoulos, O. Pearce, T.G. Smith, N.L. Thomas, X. Xu, N. Mourad, J. Vu, M. Bianco, N.M. Amato L. Rauchwerger, "The STAPL Parallel Container Framework", ACM SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles and Practice of Parallel Programming (PPoPP), San Antonio, TX, February 2011.

  59. P. Kuchment, "Detecting Small Low Emission Sources on a Large Random Background: Inverse Problems", Seminar Presentation: February 2, 2011.

  60. C. Li , "Nuclear Materials Smuggling: Analysis of Port Networks", INFORMS ICS Conference Proceedings, Monterey, CA, Jan. 9-11, 2011.

  61. G.M. Gaukler, "Novel Inspection Policies for Detecting Illicit Nuclear Materials at Ports-of-Entry", INFORMS ICS Conference Proceedings, Monterey, CA, Jan. 9-11, 2011.

  62. G. Kanschat, "Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for Diffusion-Dominated Radiative Transfer Problems", Presentation at Advances in Numerical Analysis & Scientific Computing, University of Houston, 2011.

  63. G.M. Gaukler, "A Framework for Modeling the Detection of Smuggled Nuclear Materials", Presentation at the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, Jan 10, 2011.

  64. J.J. Jarrell, "An Adaptive Angular Discretization Method for Neutral-Particle Transport in Three-dimensional Geometries", Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2010).

  65. A. Buss, A. Fidel, Harshvardhan, T.G. Smith, G. Tanase, N.L. Thomas, X. Xu, M. Bianco, N. M. Amato, L. Rauchwerger, "The STAPL pView", Proc. 22nd International Workshop on Languages and Compilers for Parallel Computing (LCPC), Houston, TX, October 2010.

  66. G. Tanase, "The STAPL Parallel Container Framework", Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2010)

  67. X. Xu, "The STAPL pList", M.S. Thesis, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2010).

  68. R. Garg, S. Khatri, Analysis and Design of Resilient VLSI Circuits: Mitigating Soft Errors and Process Variations, New York: Springer 2010.

  69. C. Li, "Interdicting Nuclear Smuggling in a Port Network", INFORMS Annual Conference, Austin, TX, Nov. 7-10, 2010.

  70. G.M. Gaukler, "A Hybrid Inspection Strategy for Securing Seaborne Container Shipments", INFORMS Annual Conference, Austin, TX, Nov. 7-10, 2010.

  71. R. Pearce, M. Gokhale, and N.M. Amato, "Multithreaded Asynchronous Graph Traversal for In-Memory and Semi-External Memory", ACM/IEEE Supercomputing Conference 2010 (SC10), November 2010.

  72. Y. Kuo, invited paper, "Mechanism and Performance of Floating-Gate a-Si:H TFT Nonvolatile Memory Devices", 10th TFT Symposium of Electrochemical Society National Conference, Las Vegas, NV, October 13, 2010.

  73. Y. Hristova, "Mathematical problems of Thermoacoustic and Compton Camera Imaging", Ph.D. thesis, Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2010).

  74. Y. Kuo, "Hysteresis of Transfer Characteristics of Floating-Gate a-Si:H Thin Film Transistor Nonvolatile Memories", Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, 13, 12 (2010).

  75. K.A. Miller W.S. Charlton, "An Inverse Source Location Algorithm for Radiation Portal Monitor Applications", 51st Annual Meeting for the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, Baltimore, Maryland, July 11-15, 2010.

  76. C.M. Marianno, D.R. Boyle, W.S. Charlton, G.M. Gaukler, A. Veditz, "A Guide for Detector Development and Deployment", 51st Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials and Management, Baltimore, MD, USA, July 11-15, 2010.

  77. C.M. Ryan, C.M. Marianno, W.S. Charlton, A.A. Solodov, and J. Livesay, "Determining the Effects of Construction Materials on Background Readings for Second Line of Defense Program Portal Monitoring Systems", 51st Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials and Management, Baltimore, MD, USA, July 11-15, 2010.

  78. K.A. Miller and W.S. Charlton, "An Inverse Method for Locating a Radioactive Source Using a Distributed Array of Detectors", Transactions of the 2010 American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, June 13-17, 2010.

  79. C.M. Marianno and S.P. Khatri, "Unique Radiation Detection Method Using Si Based Integrated Circuits", 55th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Salt Lake City, UT, June 26-30, 2010.

  80. G.M. Gaukler, "Detecting Illicit Nuclear Materials Smuggling", IIE Annual Conference, Cancun, Mexico, June 7, 2010.

  81. K. A. Miller, "An Inverse Source Location Algorithm for Radiation Portal Monitor Applications", Ph.D. Dissertation, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2010).

  82. G.M. Gaukler, "Interdiction of Nuclear Materials Smuggling at Sea Port", IIE Annual Conference, Cancun, Mexico, June 7, 2010.

  83. A. Buss, Harshvardhan, I. Papadopoulos, O. Pearce, T.G. Smith, G. Tanase, N.L. Thomas, X. Xu, M. Bianco, N. M. Amato L. Rauchwerger, "STAPL: Standard Template Adaptive Parallel Library", The 3rd Annual Haifa Experimental Systems Conference (SYSTOR), Haifa, Israel, May 24-26, 2010, pp. 1-10.

  84. P. Kuchment, "Detection of small low emission sources on a large random background", Inverse Transport Theory and Tomography Workshop, Banff, Canada, 16-21 May, 2010.

  85. D. Strohmeyer, "Feasibility Study of a Portable Coupled 3He Detector with LaBr3 Gamma Scintillator for Field Identification and Quantification of Nuclear Material", M.S. Thesis, Health Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2010).

  86. J-L Guermond G. Kanschat, "Asymptotic analysis of upwind dg approximation of the radiative transport equation in the diffusive limit", SIAM Journal of Numerical Analysis, 48, 1 (2010).

  87. J. Webster, W. Bangerth, M. Adams, N. Amato, S. Chirayath, J-L Guermond, G. Kanschat, P. Kuchment, J. Morel, J. Ragusa, L. Rauchwerger, "Using Statistics to Set Detector Threshold Curves", Poster presented at the Academic Research Initiative Grantees Conference, Washington, D.C., April 2010.

  88. G. Gaukler, Y. Ding, C. Li, S.S. Chirayath, A. Vaughn, M. McGaha, "Detecting Nuclear Materials Smuggling: Combining Radiography and ATS to Improve Container Inspection", Poster presented at the Academic Research Initiative Grantees Conference, Washington, D.C., April 2010.

  89. G. Gaukler, Y. Ding, C. Li, S.S. Chirayath, A. Vaughn, M. McGaha, "A Transportation Network Perspective for Detecting HEU in Seaborne Containers", Poster presented at the Academic Research Initiative Grantees Conference, Washington, D.C., April 2010.

  90. A. Vedlitz, E. Lindquist, X. Liu, L. Shi, C. Lindsey, C. Layne, "Social Science and Policy Factors Affecting Detector Design and Implementation - Year 3", Poster presented at the Academic Research Initiative Grantees Conference, Washington, D.C., April 2010.

  91. Y. Kuo and M. Coan, "Influence of Embedded a-Si:H Layer Location on Floating-gate a-Si:H TFT Memory Functions", Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, San Francisco, CA, 5-10 April 2010.

  92. M.R. Sternat, "Application of a Constrained Optimization Technique to the Imaging of Heterogeneous Objects Using Diffusion Theory", M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2009).

  93. D.W. Kuberski, "Domestic Audiences, Policy Feedback, and Sequential Decisions During Military Interventions", Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2009).

  94. R. Garg S. Khatri, "3D Simulation and Analysis of the Radiation Tolerance of Voltage Scaled Digital Circuit", Paper presented at the IEEE International Conference on Computer Design, Lake Tahoe, California, October 4-7, 2009.

  95. R. Kumar, V. Karkala, R. Garg, T. Jindal, and S. Khatri, "A Radiation Tolerant Phase Locked Loop Design for Digital Electronics", Paper presented at the IEEE International Conference on Computer Design, Lake Tahoe, California, October 4-7, 2009.

  96. G.M. Gaukler, "A Systems Concept for Detecting Nuclear Materials", INFORMS Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, October 11, 2009.

  97. C. Li, "Novel Inspection Policies to Prevent Nuclear Materials Smuggling", INFORMS Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, October 11, 2009.

  98. G. Tanase, X. Xu, A. A. Buss, I. Papadopoulos, O. Pearce, T.G. Smith, N.L. Thomas, M. Bianco, N.M. Amato, L. Rauchwerger, "The STAPL pList", in Proc. 21st International Workshop on Languages and Compilers for Parallel Computing (LCPC), Wilmington, DE, October 2009. Published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), 5898 Springer-Verlag, 2010, pp. 16-30.

  99. G.M. Gaukler, "Detecting Nuclear Materials Smuggling: Using Radiography to Improve Container Inspection Policies", Parsons Seminar Series, Texas A&M University, September 21, 2009.

  100. G.R. Spence W.S. Charlton, "Directionally Sensitive Neutron Detectors for Portal Monitors", 2009 Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, Tucson, AZ, July 12-15, 2009.

  101. P. Maginot, J. Morel, J. Ragusa, "A Positive Non-Linear Closure for the SN Equations with Linear-Discontinuous Spatial Differencing", Proceedings of the International Conference on Mathematics, Computational Methods & Reactor Physics (M&C 2009) Saratoga Springs, New York, May 3-7, 2009.

  102. D.C. Strohmeyer W.S. Charlton, "Feasibility Study of a Portable Coupled 3He Neutron Detector with LaBr3 Gamma Scintillator for the Purpose of Plutonium Identification and Quantification", Proceedings of 31st Annual Meeting of ESARDA, May 26-28, 2009, Vilnius, Lithuania.

  103. Chenhua Li, G. Gaukler, and Y. Ding, "Container Inspection Policies to Prevent Nuclear Materials Smuggling at Seaports", Institute of Industrial Engineering Annual Conference & Expo, Miami, FL, May 31, 2009.

  104. T. Pandya, M. L. Adams, "Method of Long Characteristics Applied in Space and Time", International Conference on Advances in Mathematics, Computational Methods, and Reactor Physics, an international conference sponsored by the ANS, Saratoga, NY, May 3-7, 2009.

  105. S. Pautz, T. Pandya, M. L. Adams, "Scalable Parallel Prefix Solvers for Discrete Ordinates Transport", International Conference on Advances in Mathematics, Computational Methods, and Reactor Physics, an international conference sponsored by the ANS, Saratoga, NY, May 3-7, 2009.

  106. T. Trahan, J. C. Ragusa, J. Morel, "Galerkin-Quadratures for Solving Forward-peaked Scattering Particle Transport Problems with the Sn method in 2D Cartesian Geometries", International Conference on Advances in Mathematics, Computational Methods, and Reactor Physics, an international conference sponsored by the ANS, Saratoga, NY, May 3-7, 2009.

  107. M. Sternat, J.C. Ragusa, "Cross Section Inference Based on PDE-Constrained Optimization", International Conference on Advances in Mathematics, Computational Methods, and Reactor Physics, an international conference sponsored by the ANS, Saratoga, NY, in May 3-7, 2009.

  108. G.M. Gaukler, "Improving Container Inspection Policies Using Radiography Data", Poster presentation at ARI Conference, Washington, DC, April 6-9, 2009.

  109. P. Bhagawat, R. Dash, G. Choi, "Systolic Like Soft-Detection Architecture for 4x4 64-QAM MIMO System", IEEE Design Automation and Test in Europe (DATE), Nice, France, April 20-24, 2009.

  110. Y. Wang, W. Bangerth, J. Ragusa, "Three-dimensional h-adaptivity for the multigroup neutron diffusion equations", Progress in Nuclear Energy, 51 (2009).

  111. M.R. Sternat, J.C. Ragusa, W. Bangerth, "Optically Thick Heterogeneous Object Imaging Using Constrained Optimization and Diffusion Theory", Poster presented at the Academic Research Initiative Grantees Conference, Washington, D.C., April 6-9, 2009.

  112. W. Bangerth, M. Adams, N. Amato, S. Chirayath, J-L Guermond, G. Kanschat, P. Kuchment, J. Morel, J. Ragusa, L. Rauchwerger, "Forward and inverse simulation capabilities for detection and imaging", Poster presented at the Academic Research Initiative Grantees Conference, Washington, D.C., April 6-9, 2009.

  113. A. Vedlitz, E. Lindquist, X. Liu, K. Mosher-Howe, L. Shi, C. Lindsey, C. Sprecher, "Social Science and Policy Factors Affecting Detector Design and Implementation, Year 2", Poster presented at the Academic Research Initiative Grantees Conference, Washington, D.C., April 6-9, 2009.

  114. R. Garg S. Khatri, "3D Simulation and Analysis of the Radiation Tolerance of Voltage Scaled Digital Circuits", Presented at the 2009 IEEE Workshop on Silicon Errors in Logic - System Effects, Stanford, CA, March 24-25, 2009.

  115. R. Dash, R. Garg, S. Khatri, G. Choi, "SEU Hardened Clock Regeneration Circuits", International Symposium on Quality Electronic Design (ISQED) San Jose, CA. Mar 16-18 2009.

  116. Y. Ding, "Modeling Framework for Detecting HEU in Seaborne Containers", Presented at the University of Southern California, on February 19, 2009.

  117. Y. Ding, "Modeling Framework for Detecting HEU in Seaborne Containers", Presented at the University of Texas at Austin, on February 13, 2009.

  118. R. Garg, S. Khatri, "Efficient Analytical Determination of the SEU-induced Pulse Shape", IEEE/ACM Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASP-DAC) 2009, Yokohama, Japan, Jan 19-22 2009, pp. 461-467.

  119. P. Bhagawat, R. Dash, G. Choi, "Array-Like Runtime Reconfigurable MIMO Detectors for 802.11n WLAN: A Design Case Study", IEEE Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASPDAC), Yokohama, Japan, Jan 19- 22, 2009.

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