ABSTRACT Nuclear forensics is an essential activity in support of national counter-nuclear smuggling operations, as it can be used to provide unique and useful data to law enforcement for the prosecution of criminal nuclear smugglers and traffickers. Nuclear forensics can also be used to determine the origin of nuclear materials that have fallen out of regulatory control, allowing for the identification of weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the safeguarding of nuclear materials, while also generating a deterrent effect through attribution to the legal and responsible owners of nuclear materials out of regulatory control. This article describes the benefits of a nuclear forensics capability to any country in possession of nuclear materials and describes how nuclear forensics can support an investigation into the origin of interdicted nuclear materials, using a case study of a nuclear materials interdiction in Australia to describe how nuclear forensics works in practice.

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核法证学：科学如何帮助阻止核材料的贩运

摘要核法证学是支持国家反核走私活动的一项必不可少的活动，因为它可以用来为执法部门提供独特而有用的数据，以起诉犯罪核走私者和贩运者。核法证学还可用于确定不在监管控制范围内的核材料的来源，从而查明保护核材料方面的弱点和脆弱性，同时通过归因于合法和负责任的所有人也可产生威慑作用超出监管范围的核材料。