Researchers tout new approach to detecting smuggled nuclear materials.

Scientists working with spectral X-ray technology said they have a potential new method of foiling smugglers who try to hide small amounts of nuclear material in luggage or shipping containers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said most illegal trafficking of nuclear materials is in small quantities.

"You don't have people with big spheres of this stuff in their suitcase walking through an airport," said Andy Gilbert, a researcher at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Smugglers attempt to carry small amounts in their suitcases or baggage and shield it with steel, lead and other metals to evade detection.

The lab, in a joint project with the University of Texas at Austin, has applied the relatively new field of spectral X-rays to the problem, he said in an interview.

Regular X-rays only measure the amount of energy. As they pass through an object, some are absorbed and some pass through. Materials such as metals are darker, which is why they are easy to spot on images.

Spectral X-ray technology can "bin" the energy, or categorize it, which gives those looking at the image a better idea of what the object comprises, he said.

Different materials interact with X-rays differently. The composition of an object causes a spectral shift when the energy is moving through it.

With spectral X-rays, "you get an extra piece of information," Gilbert said, and operators can therefore make inferences on the identity of an object.

Spectral X-ray technology has been the subject of research for about a decade, he said. The medical community is also pursuing the...