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Experts: local and regional approach better for addressing radioactive waste
The Obama administration has stopped funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, so experts say it is now time for a regional and local approach to solving the nuclear waste problem
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GAO finds major security flaws at federal buildings
Undercover investigators sneaked bombs and detonators past security guards and into federal buildings occupied by DHS, Justice, and State departments; the investigators were able to assembled the bombs, carried them in a briefcase and “walked freely around several floors”
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NYPD deploys mobile radiation detectors
DHS gives the NYPD three SUVs equipped with sophisticated radiation detectors; each monitor cost $450,000
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Ground-penetrating radar helps border patrol to spot tunnels
DHS researchers place radar antennas in a trailer which is towed by a Border Patrol truck; the antennas shoot a signal directly into the ground and use it to construct a multi-colored picture of the earth; tunnels show up as red, yellow, and aquamarine dots against a blue background
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U Michigan students develop portable device to detect suicide bombers
Wolverines engineering graduate students develop a small, light, cheap, and effective IED and suicide-bomber detector; the detectors are designed to be part of a wireless sensor network that conveys to a base station where suspicious objects are located and who might be carrying them
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GAO unimpressed with new radiation detectors
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended further testing of next-generation radiation detectors; at more than $800,000 apiece, the new devices cost nearly 300 percent more than the machines in operation
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NYC to receive $50 million for radiation detection
The House approves the homeland security appropriation bill — with three Republican amendments; one of them, offered by Rep. Peter King of New York, added $50 million to restore funding for the Securing the Cities program, created to place radiological and nuclear sensors around New York City
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Trust but verify, II
British and Norwegian scientists ran the first field trials of a device that could solve the problem of reliable verification: a gamma ray detector linked to a hand-held “information barrier”
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Philadelphia airport enjoys stimulus package funds
DHS secretary Napolitano announces $26 million in stimulus package funding for screening technology at Philadelphia International Airport
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Robotic ferret to secure cargo containers
The U.S. maritime system consists of more than 300 seaports and more than 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals; more than 6 million cargo containers enter U.S. seaports annually; new robotic ferret will help detect radioactive materials, explosives, drugs, and illegal immigrants smuggled inside such containers
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SF airport receives first installment of stimulus package money
The stimulus package added $3 billion to the DHS budget; of that, about $1 billion will go toward bolstering airport security; San Francisco International receives first $15 million
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New method for chemoterrorism developed
Chemical terrorism does not receive as much press as bioterrorism; still, poisoning the air, water, and food supply using chemicals can do major harm and terrorize, intimidate, or coerce governments or civilian populations; scientists develop a new method to detect chemical attacks
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Mystery surrounds detection of North Korea's nuclear test
Detecting radionuclide evidence in the form of radioactive gas is the “smoking gun” — proving that a nuclear explosion has occurred; seismologists say they are comfortable that explosion in North Korea two weeks ago was a nuclear test — but sensors have not been able to pick up radionuclide evidence
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U.K. white supremacists plotted to use ricin against minorities
White supremacist cell in the U.K. plotted to use ricin to kill black people and other ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom; ricin is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide
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Iran increases number of centrifuges to 5,000
Iran’s march toward the bomb accelerates; IAEA released a report on Friday saying that Iran has increased the efficiency of its production of low-enriched uranium, boosting its stockpile by 500 kg to 1,339 kg in the past six months
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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.