A novel approach is proposed to detect underground nuclear explosions (UNEs) through the displacement of natural radon isotopes (²²²Rn and ²²⁰Rn). Following an explosion, it is hypothesized that the disturbance and pressurization of the sub-surface would facilitate the movement of radon from the depth of the UNE towards the surface resulting in increased soil gas activity. The resulting signal may be magnified by a factor of 2.0–4.9 by the decay of radon to its short-lived progeny. Increases in background activity may be useful for identifying locations to perform additional measurements, or as a detectable signal at monitoring stations. To validate this hypothesis, radon detection instrumentation was deployed at the Dry Alluvium Geology (DAG) site of the Source Physics Experiment (SPE) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Natural fluctuations in the soil gas activity due to barometric pumping, and the lower yield of the chemical explosions (1–50 t) made it difficult to confirm a displacement of radon from the explosions, and further study to validate the proposed hypothesis is recommended.

提出了一种通过置换天然to同位素（²²² Rn和²²⁰）探测地下核爆炸（UNE）的新方法Rn）。发生爆炸后，假设地下的扰动和增压将促进of从UNE的深度向地面的运动，从而导致土壤气体活动增加。of的衰变可能会导致信号放大2.0-4.9倍。后台活动的增加对于标识执行其他测量的位置或作为监视站中的可检测信号可能有用。为了验证这一假设，在内华达国家安全局（NNSS）的源物理实验（SPE）的干冲积层地质（DAG）站点部署了ra检测仪器。大气压力抽运导致土壤气体活动的自然波动，