As the mission space of NA-213 Office of Nuclear Detection and Deterrence continues to evolve away from traditional stationary monitoring at borders and ports, the need for a flexible solution to maintain situational awareness becomes more critical to successful completion of the mission. ORNL was tasked to demonstrate the functionality of the TAK situational awareness software in a mission-relevant scenario for NA-213 federal program management.
In addition to preparing and executing a demonstration of TAK capabilities, ORNL conducted a literature review to develop subject matter expertise into the baseline and plugin-extended capabilities of TAK, identify deployable hardware packages, and obtain quotes on suitable equipment and pre-built packages available for eventual deployment.
Setup and approvals for the TAK demo began in March 2020, with identification of individual components and initial vendor outreach. The ORNL matrixed team’s expertise included a mix of radiation detection, network engineering, source support, and project management across the Nuclear National Security Directorate (NSSD) and Physical Sciences Directorate (PSD). Over the course of the following two months, ORNL worked to integrate live video feeds, voice communication, and radiation detection and identification into TAK. ORNL worked with multiple industry partners in radiation detection to add the ability to stream data, alarms, and identifications using TAK streaming protocols.
The TAK Demonstration scenario was based on feedback from NA-213 program managers and detailed leveraging the law enforcement background of ORNL staff members.
“Intelligence indicates that a handoff of nuclear material is taking place in a public area near a large parking lot. TAK-enabled radiation sensors and cameras have been positioned in the area in both stationary and mobile configurations to monitor the suspects, identify the presence of nuclear material, and track the movement. All sensors are configured for low-visibility operations.”
Stationary monitors were assembled in trash cans along the pedestrian walkways, and outfitted with battery power, wireless networking, cameras, and radiation detectors. Mobile monitors were installed in vehicles along driving paths in the area. Portable instruments were hand-carried by operators during the operation and used to verify the presence or absence of material, collect photographs of suspects and vehicles, and communicate with the central TAK team.
Three demonstration dry-runs were conducted between June 10th and June 21st, with the final presentation and demonstration live-streamed to NA-213 federal program managers on June 22nd. Follow-on tasking to develop requirements for NA-213 mission needs and begin development of plugins suitable for NA-213 mission needs is expected to span FY2021 Q4 and FY2022.
