Abstract
Terrorist nuclear attack is a potentially devastating threat to homeland security. It is increasingly important to have the capability to intercept illicit nuclear materials entering the country and to monitor for nuclear threats emerging from within. The effective use of sensors for nuclear and radiological detection requires choosing the right type of sensor, putting it in the right place and activating it at the right time. It also involves interpreting the results of sensor alarms and making decisions that balance various types of risk and uncertainty based on those results. This article describes a variety of approaches to sensor management for nuclear detection that revolve around formulating the related problems using precise mathematical language and then developing tools of the mathematical sciences to solve them. It emphasizes a variety of approaches to sensor management in a multi-institution project on nuclear detection, which is based at Rutgers University and includes Princeton University and Texas State University-San Marcos.