21Introduction
1.9 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Some believe that NFA is a relatively recent technical endeavor, fostered by the
b
reakup
o
f
t
he
F
SU
d
uring
t
he
e
arly
1
990s.
T
his
o
pinion
h
as
b
een
p
romoted
b
y
t
he
I
nstitute
f
or
T
ransuranium
E
lements
i
n
K
arlsruhe,
w
ith
c
laims
t
hat
t
heir
s
tart
o
f
s
ource
a
nalysis
o
f
s
muggled
n
uclear
m
aterials
a
s
a
n
onweapons
l
aboratory
c
om-
prised
t
he
i
nvention
o
f
t
he
d
iscipline
i
n
M
arch
1
992
[
16–18].
A
lternatively,
s
ome
organizations consider that the 1995–1996 formation of the International Technical
W
orking
G
roup
o
n
n
uclear
s
muggling
(
ITWG)
e
stablished
t
he
p
ractice
o
f
t
echnical
N
FA
(
apparently
f
rom
a
s
elf-centric
v
iewpoint
d
riven
b
y
t
heir
o
rganizational
a
nd
o
perational
e
xpediencies
a
fter
S
eptember
1
1,
2
001