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12/09/2026

*How Superconducting Quantum Sensors Are Revolutionizing Nuclear Safety!*

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and partner institutions have developed ultra-cold quantum sensors that measure X-ray emissions from nuclear materials with unprecedented accuracy.

The Core Problem: Radioactive elements in nuclear power plants and weapons facilities emit unique gamma rays that act as identification signatures. However, elements like plutonium, uranium, and neptunium also emit X-rays in the exact same energy range, creating "noise" that hides the true signal.

How the Sensors Work: The team used transition edge sensors (TESs)—tiny, highly sensitive thermometers made of superconducting film kept just above absolute zero. When an X-ray photon strikes the sensor, its heat increases the film's electrical resistance proportionally to the photon's energy, creating high-resolution energy readings.

Key Benefits:

Higher Precision: The technology reduced X-ray energy measurement uncertainty by one-third to one-eighth compared to past methods.

Easier Isotope Verification: By filtering out X-ray noise, scientists can accurately measure isotope ratios (e.g., confirming if uranium is enriched to a few percent for power fuel or 90% for weapons).

Faster Assessments: Speeds up nuclear fuel composition testing at power plants, reducing hold-up times and operational costs.

Current Deployment & Future Work:

TES detectors are installed at three US Department of Energy labs, SLAC, Argonne, Brookhaven, and CERN.

NIST and private companies are actively working to shrink, simplify, and lower the cost of the required cooling systems.

The team is expanding the technology to search for new fundamental particles with CERN and measure extreme space environments with NASA Goddard.