• U.S. has no plan to keep nuclear bomb materials from crossing border

    In 2006 the George W. Bush administration announced a $1.2 billion project to deploy thousands of scanners for screening vehicles and cargo at U.S. ports to block the importation of radioactive materials that could be used to make a bomb to protect the United States; the scanners — known as the advanced spectroscopic portal (ASP) machines — proved a failure, and in February, following one setback after another, officials abandoned full-scale deployment of the machines; GAO says that the attention and resources invested in the ill-fated ASPs delayed the creation of a “global nuclear detection architecture” to protect the United States

  • Airport security is big business, and Rapiscan Systems benefits

    Airport security is serious business and, increasingly, it is also big business; TSA plans to deploy as many as 1,800 full-body scanner at U.S. airports by the end of 2014; at $170,000 a scanner, this is a $300 million proposition

  • Would-be terrorists in U.S. hobbled by logistics

    Explosives experts say there are many reasons for the string of bomb failures in recent attempts by would-be terrorists in the United States; among them: it is hard to get explosive materials in the United States; putting together a bomb is a complicated process; and these kinds of attacks require a team to get them off the ground

  • Landmine detector made from off-the-shelf components

    Researchers in the United States have developed a low-cost technology to detect landmines using a novel acoustic/microwave system; the system, made from off-the-shelf components, costs about $10,000. This compares to laser-based Doppler remote detection systems that sells for upwards of $1 million

  • EU supports full-body scanners, but says common standards for privacy, health are needed

    An EC report says that full-body scanning at airports makes a contribution to security, but that a common framework must be developed across the European Union to protect citizens’ fundamental rights and health

  • Political summits should be held in remote locations

    Canadian security expert says that holding the G8 summit in Toronto makes no sense; bringing world leaders to an urban setting escalates cost — and risk; “it is overwhelmingly easier to get a device such as a powerful dirty bomb into Toronto than it would have been into Kananaskis [Alberta],” where the 2002 G8 summit was held

  • Chemical sensor may stop terrorists

    Terrorists may find it harder to carry out attacks thanks to a new explosives detector developed by Turkish scientists; the scientists have designed a colorimetric sensor that can selectively detect the peroxide-based explosives TATP and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTD) and can be used on-site

  • RadPRO SecurPASS from Virtual Imaging

    As worries about security increase, more venues require employees, customers, and visitors to pass through security scans; the scanning machines at the growing number of security check-points must meet two criteria: they should be able to detect a wide variety of materials and objects, and should do so at the lowest radiation dose possible; Virtual Imaging, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., says its RadPRO SecurPASS meets these two criteria

  • New questions raised about full-body scanners

    Aviation security experts say the machines may miss items that metal detectors catch; airline passengers may also be able to hide materials in the groin or body cavities; critics do not dispute that the imaging technology is superior to metal detectors at finding hidden nonmetallic objects, but some say it should be used only in conjunction with metal detectors and other technologies

  • U.S. lab center of information gathering effort in the event of nuclear terror

    In a laboratory on the edge of the vast Nevada desert, U.S. officials would gather some of the first critical information that could affect the lives of millions in the aftermath of a nuclear terrorist attack in an American city

  • U.K. police raids companies selling explosives "divining rods"

    A British company made millions of dollars selling hand-held explosives “divining rods” to Iraqi security forces; despite scientific evidence that the device was a hoax., the Iraqi army and police kept using millions in U.S. aid dollars to buy the worthless gimmick and equip check-point personnel with it; in February the British government banned the production and sale of the device, and last week the police raided three companies for exporting fake bomb detectors

  • Plastic lasers shed light on hidden explosives

    Detecting hidden explosives is a difficult task but now researchers in the United Kingdom have developed a new way of detecting them, with a laser sensor capable of detecting molecules of explosives at concentrations of 10 parts per billion (ppb) or less

  • Green decontaminants to breaking down chemical weapons

    New products developed non-toxically to decontaminate nerve gas, mustard gas, radioactive isotopes, and anthrax. The formulas are based on ingredients found in foods, cosmetics, and other consumer products

  • Study explores the use of terahertz sensors

    New work into the ability of nanometallic or plasmonic structures to concentrate light into deep-subwavelength volumes holds a promise of new applications for terahertz sensors for improving optical sources, detectors and modulators for optical interconnections, and for creating biomolecules

  • UN: Iran has fuel for two nuclear weapons

    IAEA says Iran has enough nuclear fuel for two nuclear weapons; the toughly worded IAEA report says that Iran has expanded work at one of its nuclear sites; it also describes, step by step, how inspectors have been denied access to a series of facilities, and how Iran has refused to answer inspectors’ questions on a variety of activities, including what the agency called the “possible existence” of “activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile”