• U.S. industrial processes vulnerable to Stuxnet-like attack

    Cyber security experts recently warned that U.S. manufacturing plants and critical infrastructure were vulnerable to a Stuxnet-like attack; industrial plants, transportation systems, electrical grids, and even nuclear plants could be crippled by new cyber weapons that target specialized control core processes; concern has spread after the Stuxnet virus targeted these systems and created physical damage; experts have likened Stuxnet to “the arrival of an F-35 into a World War I battlefield”

  • Businesses cannot defend against cyber attacks, expert says

    In a recent testimony before Congress, a cyber security expert warned that the private sector in the United States has proven unable to defend the nation’s critical cyber infrastructure from attack; businesses own 85 percent of critical infrastructure and they have not invested in the skills or technology to secure it from cyber attack leaving the electrical grid, financial services, and other key elements vulnerable; foreign intelligence agencies, organized gangs, and corporate spies have successfully infiltrated banks, multinational corporations, and even government websites and stolen sensitive data; cyber security experts urged for greater government regulation to secure U.S. networks

  • California schools seismically unsafe, lack funding for retrofits

    Hundreds of thousands of students across California are at risk, as school districts have not retrofitted aging concrete buildings that are susceptible to collapse; the state has identified dozens of structures at schools that are at risk of collapsing in a strong earthquake, but most are still in use and have no plans for repairs; engineers are particularly concerned about old concrete school buildings that were erected before 1976; these structures are constructed with “non-ductile” concrete, a type of material that did not hold up well in the recent earthquake in New Zealand; cash-strapped school districts are hesitant to begin long and expensive retrofitting projects even with state help

  • New reactor design lessens risks

    One of the major vulnerabilities of the four Japanese reactors which failed as a result of the combined force of the earthquake and tsunami, was that they relied on active cooling systems that require electricity; if there is a power outage, and if diesel back-up generators stop working, water stops flowing into the reactor pool to keep the uranium rods cool; newer reactor design relies on a passive cooling system: water is suspended over the reactor housing, and if pressure within the system drops, this allows the water to fall into the reactor area, submerging it in enough water to keep it cool

  • U.S. most vulnerable reactor: Indian Point 3, N.Y.

    What are the odds that a nuclear emergency like the one at Fukushima Dai-ichi could happen in the United States? Tasked with ensuring nuclear power is safely used, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has compiled a ranking of 104 nuclear reactors to address such a question and they have found that each year, at a typical U.S. nuclear reactor, there is a 1 in 74,176 chance that an earthquake could damage the core and expose the public to radiation

  • Oregon declares state of emergency to repair damaged ports

    The 11 March tsunami born of Japan’s 8.9 magnitude quake battered U.S. coasts and ports from Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest to southern California; the governor’s office in Hawaii expects damages to run about $10 million with estimates heading toward $50 million in California; one county in Oregon is reporting $25 million worth of destruction in one of three damaged ports

  • Past "hyperthermals" offer clues about anticipated climate changes

    Bursts of intense global warming that have lasted tens of thousands of years have taken place more frequently throughout history than previously believed; most of the events raised average global temperatures between 2° and 3° Celsius (3.6 and 5.4° F), an amount comparable to current conservative estimates of how much temperatures are expected to rise in coming decades as a consequence of anthropogenic global warming; most hyperthermals lasted about 40,000 years before temperatures returned to normal

  • Shock absorbers making buildings earthquake-proof

    An upstate New York manufacturer has developed dampers, or shock absorbers, which increase the earthquake resistance of a building by threefold; the patented dampers are based on technology first developed by the military to protect U.S. missile silos against Russian attacks during the cold war

  • Minnesota braces for spring floods

    As dense snow packs in Minnesota begin to melt, officials are preparing for what may be their worst spring flooding yet; with record snow falls and heavy rains expected, weather officials are forecasting that floods are on their way; last September’s heavy rains saturated the soil with water which will exacerbate spring floods this year; officials are preparing the state for floods and St. Paul city officials have sent letters to all residents warning that they should find alternative places to stay and keep their vehicles in safe areas if they are forced to evacuate as water levels rise

  • EU considering subjecting nuclear plants to stress tests

    The EU is considering subjecting the 150 nuclear reactors operating in Europe to stress test to check their safety in light of Japan’s nuclear crisis; the EU’s executive arm has no power to send experts to nuclear plants to see whether they are safe, but can discuss stress tests to see if EU nations would authorize them

  • Japan facing a nuclear catastrophe

    Initial estimates say that the Magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami killed about 10,000 people and made hundreds of thousands homeless; Japan is facing another threat: radioactive contamination from four damaged nuclear power plants; the tremor damaged the cooling systems in the reactors, forcing the companies operating the plants to flood the reactors with corrosive sea water and boric acid; one containment vessel was destroyed in an explosion, and in order to prevent more explosion, radioactive-contaminated hydrogen had to be released, increasing the radioactive levels to unsafe levels; more than 200,000 people living in the vicinity of the reactors were evacuated; the government has began distributing iodine pills to citizens (the pills are used to protect the thyroid gland from the effects of radiation); the difficulties at the nuclear power plants mean that rotating power outages will be imposed across Japan as of Monday

  • Sensors detecting nuclear tests detect tsunamis, too

    The Comprehensive Nuclear test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is supported by arrays of sensors at sixty sites across the world that listen for the low boom of atmospheric blasts. They are tuned to infrasound — frequencies under 20 hertz (cycles per second), the lowest humans can hear; these sensors are meant to pick up illicit nuclear tests, but they can also pick up tsunami-producing tremors — and provide timely warning to those likely to be affected

  • Anchorage unprepared for next big quake

    Geologists warn that Alaska’s next big earthquake could be even larger than the Good Friday earthquake of 1964; the massive 9.2 magnitude earthquake is the second largest quake in recorded history and resulted in massive ground failures, tsunamis, and landslides; officials are worried about the Port of Anchorage which lies along an area that is highly susceptible to ground failure; engineers warn that with more than 50 percent of its foundation corroded the port cannot survive another massive quake; large portions of Anchorage are also vulnerable as building codes have not been strictly enforced; the city is built upon a unique soil that is prone to liquefaction in large earthquakes

  • New Orleans debates hurricane protection plans

    The Army Corps of Engineers is currently deciding how best to implement its $2.9 billion Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) restoration plan in New Orleans; the plan is part of several projects designed to protect the Louisiana coast line from hurricane storm surges; residents are clashing over the plan and the public hearing period for the plan has been extended; state legislators are currently debating with the corps, as the $2.9 billion project funds do not include the costs for land acquisition, design, and operation and maintenance; the project is expected to take ten years to complete and construction could begin as early as 2012