Radionuclide network

Radionuclide Station RN23 in the Cook Islands. The air sampler and the satellite communications dish are in the foreground

• The radionuclide network of 80 stations uses air samplers to detect radioactive particles released from atmospheric explosions and vented from underground or under water explosions.

• The relative abundance of different radionuclides in these samples can distinguish between materials produced by a nuclear reactor and a nuclear explosion.

• The associated radionuclide laboratories are used to analyse samples that are suspected of containing radionuclide materials that may have been produced by a nuclear explosion.

• The presence of specific radionuclides provides unambiguous evidence of a nuclear explosion.

• Half of the stations in the radionuclide network also have the capacity to detect noble gases. The presence of noble gases can indicate if an underground explosion has taken place.

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Sample of a radionuclide air filter spectrum	�