{"id":1586,"date":"2026-07-12T08:35:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T06:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T08:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T06:35:42","slug":"new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/","title":{"rendered":"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Physicists at Vilnius University<\/strong> have developed a sensor capable of detecting and localizing radiation sources with a level of precision that surpasses currently available instruments. The device does not simply measure the presence of radioactivity: it can pinpoint its location \u2014 a capability that opens concrete possibilities for nuclear power plant<\/strong> monitoring and high-energy physics research.<\/p>\n

The sensor is designed to operate in demanding environments. Intended applications include radioactivity monitoring in laboratories conducting high-energy particle experiments and continuous surveillance of nuclear facilities. The ability to localize a source \u2014 rather than merely detect it \u2014 is what sets this device apart from most existing instruments, which return scalar readings with no directional information. Knowing where a source is located fundamentally changes what operators can do in the field.<\/p>\n

This development comes amid growing demand for more precise and compact measurement tools. Conventional directional detection sensors<\/strong> typically require arrays of at least one hundred elements arranged in a 10\u00d710 configuration \u2014 structures that are costly and difficult to install. The international research community is pushing to drastically reduce hardware complexity, compensating with advanced computational processing. A team from MIT and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory demonstrated, in a paper published in Nature Communications<\/em>, that just four pixels arranged in Tetris-inspired shapes, combined with a neural network trained on Monte Carlo simulations, can deliver high-resolution directional predictions. The Lithuanian sensor follows a similar logic: fewer physical components, greater intelligence in signal analysis.<\/p>\n

On the hardware side, parallel progress has been made. The University of Maine<\/strong> has developed microelectronic sensors just 100 nanometers thick \u2014 roughly one-thousandth the width of a human hair \u2014 with platinum-alloy electrodes, tested at the Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. All seven prototypes operated without degradation after five days of exposure at the reactor’s maximum power output, at temperatures around 800 degrees Celsius. Sensors that can survive inside an operating reactor core deliver real-time data that is simply not obtainable by any other current means.<\/p>\n

Vilnius University is active on multiple fronts in nuclear and particle physics. Its Center for Experimental Nuclear and Particle Physics<\/strong> has recently received official CERN approval to participate in the assembly and testing of modules for the CMS detector upgrade, as part of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider program. CMS inner tracker representatives evaluated the group’s work on July 1, 2026, approving both its procedures and available equipment. The Lithuanian team is the only group in the country involved in this phase of the CMS tracker endcap pixel module upgrade.<\/p>\n

The convergence of miniaturization, reconstruction algorithms, and materials capable of withstanding extreme environments defines the current trajectory of nuclear instrumentation. A sensor that detects and localizes with precision \u2014 and does so without the bulky infrastructure of previous systems \u2014 is a tool that can be deployed at far greater scale: across power plants, physics laboratories, and continuous environmental monitoring networks. The denser the measurement network, the faster and more reliable the response to any anomalous behavior at a facility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Physicists at Vilnius University have developed a sensor capable of detecting and localizing radioactive sources with exceptional accuracy. The technology targets nuclear plant monitoring, high-energy physics research, and industrial radiation protection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":1583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,122],"tags":[129,127],"class_list":["post-1586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reactor-technology","category-reactors","tag-energy-security","tag-radioactivity"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision - Energia nucleare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vilnius University develops a high-precision radiation sensor for nuclear plant monitoring, particle physics, and environmental surveillance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision - Energia nucleare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vilnius University develops a high-precision radiation sensor for nuclear plant monitoring, particle physics, and environmental surveillance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energia nucleare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-12T06:35:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7\"},\"headline\":\"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-12T06:35:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":495,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Energy Security\",\"Radioactivity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Reactor Technology\",\"Reactors\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/\",\"name\":\"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision - Energia nucleare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-12T06:35:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7\"},\"description\":\"Vilnius University develops a high-precision radiation sensor for nuclear plant monitoring, particle physics, and environmental surveillance.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energia nucleare\",\"description\":\"Notizie sul nucleare\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7\",\"name\":\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Redazione Energia Nucleare\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/energianucleare.eu\\\/en\\\/author\\\/redazione\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision - Energia nucleare","description":"Vilnius University develops a high-precision radiation sensor for nuclear plant monitoring, particle physics, and environmental surveillance.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision - Energia nucleare","og_description":"Vilnius University develops a high-precision radiation sensor for nuclear plant monitoring, particle physics, and environmental surveillance.","og_url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/","og_site_name":"Energia nucleare","article_published_time":"2026-07-12T06:35:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Redazione Energia Nucleare","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Redazione Energia Nucleare","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/"},"author":{"name":"Redazione Energia Nucleare","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7"},"headline":"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision","datePublished":"2026-07-12T06:35:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/"},"wordCount":495,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png","keywords":["Energy Security","Radioactivity"],"articleSection":["Reactor Technology","Reactors"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/","url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/","name":"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision - Energia nucleare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png","datePublished":"2026-07-12T06:35:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7"},"description":"Vilnius University develops a high-precision radiation sensor for nuclear plant monitoring, particle physics, and environmental surveillance.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/publish_33a05966f96441b2ad6d8463e082cb88.png","width":1536,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/new-sensor-detects-and-localizes-radiation-with-high-precision\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New sensor detects and localizes radiation with high precision"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/","name":"Energia nucleare","description":"Notizie sul nucleare","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2c3f466ad139658dfa60c575cf287fb7","name":"Redazione Energia Nucleare","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7573bf636adfceb968c63d469c0889af0a78eb4935f321c17f76df121e056a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Redazione Energia Nucleare"},"url":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/author\/redazione\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energianucleare.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}