Science and technology will play a critical role in global efforts to reduce the size of nuclear arsenals and restrict the spread of radioactive materials, according to a panel of top nuclear experts at the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Speaking at a Thursday afternoon press briefing, the panel said that by using science to verify  nuclear stockpile reduction and ensure that rogue groups do not gain access to radioactive materials, nation's could be more likely to join nuclear downsizing efforts.

Jay Davis, chair of the American Physical Society's panel on nuclear arsenal downsizing, said that science will play an important role in three key elements of nuclear downsizing: verifying the process of dismantling stockpiles; ensuring that the remaining arsenal is safe, secure, and reliable; and ensuring the peaceful use of fissile materials around the world.

"We currently have the technology to begin the downsizing process, but it will take a long time and political will to get the process started," said Davis. Davis' panel released a report at the meeting entitled Technical Steps to Support Nuclear Arsenal Downsizing.

Klaus Lutzenkirchen, head of the nuclear safeguards and security unit at the European Commission Joint Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany, said that many scientific disciplines are used to detect nuclear activities including chemistry, physics, and materials science.

"All actions leave dust behind which will reflect the activities that are underway in a facility," said Lutzenkirchen. He added that looking for dust with nuclear materials can be like "looking for a needle in a haystack."

Ian Hutcheon, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, said that all nuclear materials can be traced by looking for the ratios of isotopes. "Just like a law enforcement officer, a nuclear forensics inspection team can look for nuclear fingerprints in a sample to determine where the material originated," he said.

As efforts to reduce nuclear arsenals gain traction, Diane Fischer, a senior safeguard analyst at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that her organization will likely serve as the primary investigator to verify disarmament.

"[Our] organization not only verifies that reports of nuclear activities within the country are correct, we also ensure they are complete," said Fischer. "We want to make sure countries do not have programs that they are not telling us about."