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Scientists study how nature cleans uranium from aquifer
A small town in Colorado was the site of uranium ore processing in the 1940s and 1950s, producing yellowcake; when the mills shut down, the mill tailings — a crushed rock byproduct of ore processing — were left behind on the north bank of the river; the tailings were hauled away in the 1990s, but a large amount of uranium that seeped out of the tailings remains as a contaminant in the aquifer and is slowly being released into the Colorado River
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New way to detect underground nuclear tests
A new analysis of satellite data from the late 1990s documents for the first time the “uplift” of ground above a site of underground nuclear testing, providing researchers a new tool for analyzing the strength of underground nuclear detonation
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Chicago's new bio-attack response facility
Chicago is preparing itself for a biological attack with the recent unveiling of a new 40,000 square-foot, fourteen story state-of the-art medical decontamination facility; the new facility is fully equipped to handle a sudden influx of patients from a biological attack or other mass casualty incident
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Death of fourteen bomb dogs sparks $1 million lawsuit
A firm that trains bomb sniffing dogs for law enforcement and military personnel is suing a transportation company for more than $1 million over the deaths of fourteen highly-trained canines bound for Afghanistan
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Wireless sensors effective in protecting critical infrastructure
A key to critical infrastructure security is effective monitoring of such infrastructure; a European research project has now successfully demonstrated a wireless sensor-based solution for cost-effective monitoring of electricity distribution networks and water networks
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Researchers develop glow in the dark explosive detectors
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed new explosives and chemical detectors that glow when dangerous substances are present
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RMD awarded $3.65 million in government funding for nuclear detection research
Last week RMD Research was awarded two contracts worth $3.65 million total by DHS’ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office to develop gamma and neutron radiation detectors
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Implant Sciences sells $200,000 in explosives detectors to Mexican government
Last week Implant Sciences announced that it had received an order for more than $200,000 worth of its portable explosives detectors from the Mexican government
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Tracking nerve agents back to the source where terrorists got it
Scientists are reporting development of a first-of-its-kind technology that could help law enforcement officials trace the residues from terrorist attacks involving nerve gas and other chemical agents back to the companies or other sources where the perpetrators obtained ingredients for the agent
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Decontaminating radiation-laced water at Fukushima Daiichi
Thanks to special radiation devices, made by UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, cleanup crews in Japan have been able to treat five million gallons of water contaminated by radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
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Sector Report for Monday, 5 December 2011: Detection
This report contains the following stories.
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Safer fertilizer technology
Honeywell will build a facility in California to produce a fertilizer with the agronomic benefits of traditional nitrate-based fertilizers, but with significantly lower explosive potential; the new fertilizer was independently tested, with guidance from the DHS and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and demonstrated significantly less or no explosive power
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U.S. deploys radiation detectors in Chinese port
As part of its ongoing efforts to secure terrorists from attacking the global shipping system via cargo container, the United States recently reached an agreement to deploy radiation scanners at the world’s largest container processing port in Shanghai
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Inmates help train bomb-sniffing dogs
In an interesting turn of events, prison inmates are being used in a pilot program designed to train future law enforcement officers; inmates at the Panama City- Bay County jail will help train two future bomb-sniffing dogs
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Wearing shoes at airport checkpoints could be a new reality
As part of its continuing efforts to make security procedures at airport checkpoints easier for travelers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is actively seeking technological solutions that would allow passengers to keep their shoes on
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The long view
What We’ve Learned from Survivors of the Atomic Bombs
Q&A with Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, New Vice Chair for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.