When a disturbance is detected underground, underwater, in the atmosphere or in space, the event may be analyzed for nuclear identification, and the findings are reported to national command authorities.

AFTAC conducts technical research and evaluates verification technologies for current and future treaties involving weapons of mass destruction.

[4] In 1947, General Dwight D. Eisenhower directed the Army Air Forces to develop technologies capable of detecting "atomic explosions anywhere in the world."

In 1949, a particulate sampler aboard an Air Weather Service modified B-29 Superfortress flying between Alaska and Japan detected debris from the first Soviet atomic test.

In December 2015, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released its final assessment on "Past and Present Outstanding Issues" regarding Iran's nuclear program.

AFTAC provided trace forensic analysis of samples supporting the IAEA's mission to monitor Iranian compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The program is designed to collect forensic analysis after attacks against American sites or interests to aid the Federal Bureau of Investigation in identifying governmental or terrorist involvement.

AFTAC works closely with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna, Austria to improve the International Monitoring System.

This detection and localization provided the first specific data on the wreck of the Soviet Golf-II class SSB K-129, which became the target of the CIA's Project Azorian salvage operation conducted in the summer of 1974.

[8] On 22 September 1979, one of the Vela satellites detected a double flash of light, consistent with a nuclear explosion, centered over the Prince Edward Islands.