• Imagining new threats -- and countering them

    DHS air transport security lab is in the business of imagining new threats — then developing the technologies to counter them; their dream? To build a “tunnel of truth” in each airport lined with hidden sensors, scanners, and rays; passengers would get zapped and sniffed as they passed, and would not need to take off their shoes, toss their liquids, or anything else

  • Raytheon delivers mobile radiation detection system

    Raytheon delivers advanced SUV-based radiation detection system to Florida’s Department of Transportation

  • ASE shows cargo and vehicle inspection system

    American Science and Engineering, Inc. combines its patented Z Backscatter technology with High Energy Transmission to offer enhanced scanning system for vehicles, cargo; system may be used in drive-by mode to scan stationary objects, or in portal mode to scan vehicles as they drive past the system

  • High-tech nuke detectors check Puget Sound small vessels for WMD

    Pacific Northwest National Laboratory coordinated activities with the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, and many other state, local, and tribal agencies for the two-day nuclear detection exercise

  • Fujitsu asks terrorists whether they would use its software for WMD

    Fujitsu runs a patching site for Sun Microsystems’ Solaris Unix variant; the company asks end-users to fill out a survey before downloading the latest patch, and the first question asks whether the customer would be using the patch to build WMD; even if you admit to building a nuclear bomb, Fujitsu allows you to download the patch; either Fujitsu targets really honest terrorists, or the company wants to use the information in its advertising (as in: “5% of our customers are terrorists who use our software to build weapons of mass destruction”)

  • GAO: FEMA not ready for nuclear, radiological attack

    GAO: “FEMA has not developed a national disaster recovery strategy or related plans to guide involvement of federal agencies in these recovery activities, as directed by federal law and executive guidance”

  • Mafia's new business: sinking nuclear waste at sea

    The Sicilian Mafia had muscled in on the lucrative business of radioactive waste disposal; to increase the profit margin, mafia operatives blow up and sink the ships at sea rather than process the nuclear waste on board

  • Using lasers in nuclear decommissioning

    High-power lasers could remove contaminated surfaces of concrete and cut up metal pipework and process vessels inside nuclear reactors, or other contaminated environments

  • Using waste to recover waste uranium

    Researchers find that a combination of bacteria and inositol phosphate can be used to recover uranium from the polluted waters from uranium mines; method may be used to process nuclear waste

  • Radiation is a constant presence in our lives

    The normal radiation we are exposed to causes the following: For every 100 million people, there will be 4,100 fatal cancers, 2,500 nonfatal cancers, 4,600 genetic defects (not all of which are obvious); for every additional mrem per person per year, the above rates will increase .67 percent

  • Viz Lab, Defentech show perimeter security system

    Defentect’s gamma radiation detection technology is used in a perimeter security system that can detect radiological materials

  • National nuclear medicine shortage could have a Wisconsin solution

    Scientists believe they can generate the neutrons necessary to create Mo-99, an essential nuclear medicine tool, without using a nuclear reactor to do so; there is almost no long-lived nuclear waste, no risk of an explosive accident, and it is about 20 times less expensive to produce than more traditional methods

  • Radiation safety

    A new book — Radiation Safety: Protection and Management for Homeland Security and Emergency Response — helps first responders, EMS, and medical personnel understand how to detect and cope with nuclear incidents

  • NRC seeks tighter oversight of often-lost radioactive devices

    A 3 August proposal by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) would expand the agency’s oversight, giving federal and state officials more muscle by stiffening regulations on almost 2,000 items — mostly industrial gauges containing radioactive material; there are approximately 2 million radioactive devices in factories, hospitals, research facilities — and the GAO estimates that up to 500,000 of those devices are unaccounted for

  • Breakthrough: Radiation protection drug developed

    American and Israeli researchers developed a drug which offers protection from radioactive radiation; the drug uses proteins produced in bacteria found in the intestines to protect cells against radiation; the FDA is expected to approve the drug within a year or two