A powdered simulant of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) for safe testing of X-ray transmission screening equipment

Abstract

Explosives detection systems (EDS) based on X-ray are used at airports to screen baggage for the presence of explosives. Once EDS are installed in airports, however, it can be challenging to test the EDS equipment and verify that it continues to perform at the highest level, because of the impracticality of introducing bulk explosives into civil aviation airports. The problem is particularly acute for sensitive homemade explosives, such as triacetone triperoxide (TATP). This paper describes our work to develop a safe, accurate and stable simulant for TATP for EDS based on X-ray transmission. Bulk quantities of TATP were synthesised and characterised especially for this project, and we describe the unique challenges and safety considerations of collecting this data. Our calculations show that the expanded measurement uncertainty with a coverage factor of k = 2 is 5.7% for bulk density and 1.0% for Zeff at 24 months.