WAR: U.S. Scientists Attempt To Use Cosmic Particles To Track Nuclear Material

Researchers in the United States plan to use space based energetic particles to track smuggled nuclear material. Cosmic ray muon particles strike the earth at a rate of 10,000 per square meter every minute. By tracking the muons the scientist hope that they can see through lead and other shielding material that might otherwise mask a radiation source.




The research is being undertaken an Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratories. It is estimated that the average muon can penetrate 1.8 meters of lead which is more shielding than your average smuggler would be able to easily move. This would be very beneficial to track material and prevent a nuclear or dirty bomb from exploding in the United States. While it seems that it is a portable type detector, I wonder if it could be spaced based.

so this is like a particle form of a laser range finder? do they really think this can be accurate enough to detect nukes?