• New device locates people in danger

    University of Pittsburgh researchers develop a tracking device that can pinpoint within a few feet the locations of people inside burning buildings or other structures where there is an emergency

  • New RFID technology tracks nuclear materials

    Argonne National Lab’s researchers develop RFID-based method to monitor the environmental and physical conditions of containers of nuclear materials in storage and transportation

  • Tiny sensors form robust intruder detection system

    Tel Aviv University researcher develops tiny sensors — each the size of dew drop; the sensors can be programmed to monitor sounds, metals, temperature changes, carbon monoxide emissions, vibrations, or light

  • Flow sensors based on hair structures of blind cavefish

    Members of the fish species Astyanax fasciatus cannot see, but they sense their environment and the movement of water around them with gel-covered hairs that extend from their bodies; Yellow Jackets researchers develop sensors which mimic the blind fish’s sensors; these sensors could have a variety of underwater applications, such as port security, surveillance, early tsunami detection, autonomous oil rig inspection, autonomous underwater vehicle navigation, and marine research

  • Hi-G-Tek, Trojan Defense work on global nuclear threat early detection

    Hi-G-Tek and Trojan Defense collaborate on developing a global nuclear threat early detection and warning system; the wireless sensor is designed for rapid reporting of WMD in global shipments

  • IDO Security shoes-on inspection device adopted by several airports

    Taking your shoes off for airport security checks is a hassle; a shoes-on inspection devise is gaining popularity

  • GAO: TSA may not meet deadline for cargo checks

    Passenger planes carry about 7.6 billion pounds of cargo a year; all suitcases have been screened since 2002, but cargo has been subject to much looser inspection requirements, raising concerns that terrorists could slip a bomb into a package; TSA was given an August 2010 deadline or guarantee that all cargo carried on passenger planes is being screened

  • New method for detecting explosives

    American and Danish researchers discover method to detect explosives based on physical properties of vapors

  • Handling nuclear materials for less

    During this century, nuclear plant decommissioning in the United Kingdom will likely produce thousands of waste packages that will be retrieved, conditioned, and stored for no less than £40 billion; BNS develops new way to reduce storage and handling costs of radioactive material

  • U.S. searching for a nuclear waste graveyard

    Congress has killed the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository project, so the United States has no central location for storing nuclear waste; 50,000 metric tons of toxic nuclear waste that has already been produced by the U.S. nuclear plants; 30,000 metric tons more of nuclear waste is expected to be generated in the coming decades

  • BNS wins £13 million Dounreay decommissioning contract

    Dounreay was the site of a brave, new idea — a fast breeder nuclear reactor which would convert an unusable form of uranium to plutonium which could be recycled and turned into new reactor fuel; it would, that is, breed its own fuel, offering the prospect of electricity in abundance; it has not worked out that way; now it is the site of a big decommissioning effort

  • DHS's stimulus projects to create 3,000 Jobs

    DHS has received $1 billion for air travel security under President Obama’s stimulus package; money will be used to enhance checked baggage security and liquid threats in carry-on baggage

  • Obama's budget cuts off most funds for Yucca Mountain repository

    The future of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository appears grim; Obama campaigned against the project, which is already more the 10 years behind schdule; new scientific evidence showing that water flows through Yucca Mountain much faster than initially believed raises the prospect that the nuclear waste would leach over time

  • Researchers develop plutonium which is good for power but not for weapons

    Israeli researcher finds that adding the rare-earth isotope Americium-241 in due proportion during reprocessing “declaws” plutonium, making suitable for power generation but not for weapons

  • Hunting down dirty bomb materials

    A Los Alamos-based team in in the business of locating and recovering nuclear materials from hospitals, labs, oil fields, and factories so that these materials do not fall into the hands of terrorists; between 2,500 and 3,000 radiological sources are registered each year as unwanted; some officials estimate that there may be tens of thousands of other radioactive sources that the National Nuclear Security Agency has not identified