With diplomatic talks between North Korea and the United States not making much progress recently, scientists have found that neutrino technology could help to solve the deadlock over verifying North Korea's denuclearization.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Verifying North Korea's denuclearization remains one of the biggest obstacles on the road to a peaceful Korean Peninsula.

Scientists from 15 institutions in 6 countries including Seoul National University, the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Liverpool in the UK have suggested that neutrino technology could be used to verify Pyeongyang's denuclearization.

Neutrinos are one of the lightest and smallest particles that travel at near light speed. Scientists say neutrino detectors can track power levels and fuel evolution in nuclear reactors.

These neutrino detectors can be deployed to verify the shutdown of nuclear reactors without the need for operational records or access inside reactor buildings. Theoretically, the shutdown of North Korea's nuclear reactor could be verified with a neutrino detector in a freight container placed outside the nuclear facility.

Such neutrino technology has merits for all parties involved in the diplomatic talks with Pyeongyang. South Korea and the United States may value the tamper resistance of the neutrino signal and resilience of neutrino detectors,... which can reconstruct a nuclear reactor's operational history from incomplete data.

On the other hand, North Korea may value a method for showing treaty compliance while limiting access to its nuclear reactor buildings.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News