@kyonshi What sort of nuclear weapon do you want to detect? As I understand it, even the most radioactive nuclear weapons would be a struggle to detect from a couple of rooms away (background radiation + inverse square law).
@kyonshi Maybe. I think the W87 has a depleted uranium nosecone, which is very good at blocking nuclear radiation while not being very radioactive (half life is 4.5 Gy). Alpha radiation is very easily blocked by air. I reckon it would be easy for a W87 to be missed by a Geiger counter held immediately adjacent to a lorry at a checkpoint.
It's only about 250 kg, so unlikely to be detectable by looking at vehicle loading. Probably doesn't emit any EM radiation and it should be non-magnetic. 🤷
@kyonshi Here's an wild idea: use artistic license and claim that the LX-17 / PBX-9502 explosives in the warhead produce detectable outgassing of their binder chemicals, that can be picked up close to a stationary vehicle with a handheld sniffer?
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