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WHO, IAEA is simulated nuclear accident drill
The World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency collaborate in a nuclear accident drill at the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant in Mexico
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GAO strongly criticizes DoE over Hanford clean-up
More than 210 million liters of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in Washington State; most are more than fifty years old; GAO says there now “serious questions about the tanks’ long-term viability”
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French authorities ban water use following nuclear leak
Safety agencies in France are playing down the risk to public health from Tuesday’s uranium leak at the Tricastin nuclear plant, but water-usage bans have worried skeptical residents and environmental organizations
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UC researcher helps develop device to detect explosives
Researchers from the University of California-Riverside and the University of Connecticut develop hand-held electronic device that can detect the presence of explosives in high-risk areas where bomb-sniffing dogs are now the best tools for detection
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Breakthrough: Universal detection system
Livermore researchers work on developing a universal detection system — a system that can monitor the air for virtually all of the major threat agents that could be used by terrorists: biological, chemical, explosives, and radiological — along with illicit drugs
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Smith Detection shows peroxide vapor detector
Peroxide is used in many household chemicals — and by terrorists; Smith Detection shows a hand-held detector which allows for fast detection of IEDs; military and airline industry are primary markets
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Super-sensitive explosives detector
Innovative explosives detector can detect explosives at distances exceeding 20 yards; the technology is a variation of photoacoustic spectroscopy but overcomes a number of problems associated with this technique
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MoD: The risk of nuclear warheads' "popcorning"
Light-weight but extremely sensitive high-explosives are use to envelop the plutonium core of nuclear warheads; these explosives trigger the implosion which causes a nuclear reaction to happen; U.K. Ministry of Defense is worried that these explosives are so sensitive, they may explode if warheads are dropped to the floor or bump each other, triggering “popcorning”
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New X-ray technology order of magnitude brighter
The electron pulse enters an undulator and generates an X-ray which is reflected back into the undulator entrance by crystals and connects with the next electron bunch and again travels back along the undulator
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Unmanned Ground Systems Summit: Early Bird Special
Unmanned systems perform more and more missions that used to be performed by humans; the Pentagon plans to spend about $4 billion on robots by 2010; IDGA holds ground robots summit in D.C. this August
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Universal biosensor would detect disease, bioterror attack, pollution
A consortium of U.K. research institutions, in collaboration with a Chinese University, work on developing a universal biosensor which would help in many types of detection — from home diagnosis of disease to chemical plant monitoring, anti-bioterrorism, and pandemic outbreak
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DHS experiments with testing planes for radioactive cargo
In an effort to prevent terrorists from bringing radioactive materials into the United States on planes, DHS engages in 4-month, $4 million test to see whether the government’s radiation-detection equipment can pick up depleted uranium and other radioactive material hidden aboard passenger planes
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Scientists scan boats for radiation
Scientists from several national labs collect radiation data in Puget Sound with help form nationwide program
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School of Robofish forms basis for underwater robot teams
Most ocean robots require periodic communication with scientist or satellite intermediaries to share information, but new robots can work cooperatively communicating only with each other
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U.S. nuclear recycling plans raise proliferation risks
GAO says that the Department of Energy’s new approach to recycling nuclear materials — or rather, the department’s 2006 decision to go back to a more traditional plutonium separation method — increases the risk of nuclear proliferation
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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.