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Report: Nuclear warheads could explode, release radiation while in transit
Nuclear warheads have to be inspected and refurbished regularly; to this, they are taken off the missiles and submarines where they are deployed and trucked to secure labs; the U.S. and British defense ministries insist that these warheads cannot explode as a result of accident to or terrorist attack on the convoys transporting them back and forth; a new U.K. Ministry of Defense study says this is not the case, and that a partial explosion (fizzle yield) and lethal release of radiation are possible during transit
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AS&E sells more mobile X-ray detection systems in the Middle East
AS&E develops a unique X-ray detection system which allows, among other things, for law enforcement personnel to conduct inconspicuous drive-by scanning; an unnamed country in the Middle East has just purchased several of these systems
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Ahura’s FirstDefender receives industrial design award
When companies design a homeland security piece of equipment, they typically put most, if not all, of their emphasis on the device’s effectiveness; still, a chemical detection device wins a prestigious design prize
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Modeling suggests chemical weapons can be safely buried in landfills
It is one thing to protect against and cope with a chemical attack by terrorists; but what about disposing of the chemically tainted debris in the wake of the attack? Incinerators in the United States will probably be overwhelmed; a new computer modeling study suggests that such debris can be safely disposed of in landfills
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Smiths Detection receives order for 2,000 ICAMs from U.S. military
The military buys Smiths’ hand-held detection device for nerve and blister chemical agents
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Missile market to grow to $100 billion by 2015; missiles for air defense to account for large share
Iran’s crash program to develop ballistic missiles, to say nothing of its relentless drive to build nuclear weapons, has rekindled an anxious interest in missile defenses; other aerial threats such as cruise missiles and UAVs only add to the drive for better and more sophisticated aerial defenses, offering opportunities for companies and investors
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Trend: Growing debate over safety of nuclear power plants
Worries about the rising price of oil and the degradation of the environment by fossil fuels have led to renewed interest in nuclear power plants; worries about terrorism, however, cut in the other
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Isonics' air monitoring system to be installed at IMF HQ
IMF has selected an air monitoring system from Isonics to guard its Washington, D.C. HQ against chemical weapon attacks
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Implant receives more orders from China for Quantum Sniffer
Maker of hand-held explosive detection device send more units to China, where more than 100 units have already been deployed
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View Systems receives more orders for SecureScan
Monitoring system developer sells two more units in Georgia
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House committee defeats Democrat-sponsored container security measure
Democratic minority in the House Homeland Security Committee wanted a strict timetable for implementing freight container security measure, but Republican majority defeats proposal
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AS&E receives first South American order for backscatter X-ray van
Manufacturer of an effective, if controversial, backscatter X-ray scanner receives first order for the mobile version of the device from south of the border
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German companies offer new detection and diffusion robot
German companies’ contribution to homeland security has been surprisingly modest, so it is good to see two German companies offer an innovative bomb detection and diffusion robot — and do so in time for the June World Cup Soccer tournament
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GAO's investigators manage to smuggle nuclear materials into U.S.
GAO’s undercover agents managed to smuggle radioactive material into the U.S.; nuclear sniffers at the ports of entry discovered the material, but border guards were easily fooled by fake documents — and the lack of a centralized registry listing what people and companies are allowed to ship nuclear materials
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Unease growing with Hutchison nuclear radiation detection deal
The Bush administration will start negotiating with the Bahamian government to allow U.S. custom agents to monitor nuclear radiation detection operations at Freeport conducted by Hong Kong company — or the deal may go the way of the DP World and Check Point-Sourcefire deals went
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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.