ETI 2.0 will leverage the strong foundation of interdisciplinary collaboration-driven technological innovation developed in the ETI Consortium funded in 2019. The technical mission of the ETI 2.0 team is to advance technologies across three core disciplines. The primary thrust areas will be advanced by two cross-cutting research areas. Collaboration across a robust range of disciplines will ensure our capability to develop both professionals and enabling technologies for critical nuclear nonproliferation missions that will support NNSA, national laboratories, and the other NNSA Consortia efforts.
- Thrust Area 1 (TA1) – data science and digital technologies in nuclear security and nonproliferation.
- Thrust Area 2 (TA2) – precision environmental analysis for enhanced nuclear nonproliferation vigilance and emergency response.
- Thrust Area 3 (TA3) – emerging technologies for nonproliferation.
- Cross-cutting Area 1 (CC1) – novel radiation detectors and algorithms.
- Cross-cutting Area 2 (CC2) – testbeds and digital twins.
TA1: Data Science and Digital Technologies in Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation
Thrust Area 1 is represented by a multidisciplinary team of computer and data scientists, nuclear and aerospace engineers, and cyber security experts to take advantage of new-age computational and hardware capabilities in data science and digital technologies.
TA2: Precision Environmental Analysis for Enhanced Nuclear Nonproliferation Vigilance and Emergency Response
Thrust Area 2 is to develop new methods and tools to expedite and improve the characterization of gaseous radionuclide, and with measurement and rapid analysis of uranium and plutonium swipe samples to enhance our capacity for swift responses to nuclear incidents.
TA3: Emerging Technologies for Nonproliferation
Thrust Area 3 will provide new sensing opportunities, particularly to sensitivity, precision and remote sensing capabilities, as well as assess proliferation risks of new areas, such as fusion energy systems and additive manufacturing.
CC1: Novel Radiation Detectors and Algorithms
Cross-cutting Area 1 will advance the primary thrust areas by integrating a diverse range of sensors and instrumentation, complemented by the application of AI/ML algorithms.
CC2: Testbeds and Digital Twins
Cross-cutting Area 2 will provide a controlled environment to evaluate and verify the detection systems’ effectiveness, for example sensors, sampling technologies, and data analytics. It also allow us to explore and demonstrate technologies and methods developed by the ETI2.0 team in virtual and physical domains that would be representative of a variety of environments and conditions.
Publications
The ETI community publish the research findings in a timely manner via the high-ranking peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Nature, etc.