• Chemical industry urges Congress not to alter chemical facility security law

    The Chemical Facility Security Act of 2006 introduced federal seafety standards to govern chemical plants, but also contained major concessions to the industry; the industry wants Congress to reauthorize the act without alterations

  • Palestinians in Gaza try to build new foundations from the ruins of old ones

    Tight Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade of the Gaza Strip prevents building materials from entering the Hamas-controlled area; Gazans have come up with ingenious ways of rebuilding their city

  • GPO reveals confidential U.S. nuclear information by mistake

    A 2004 agreement between the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requires the United States to submit to the agency a detailed list of the addresses and specifications of hundreds of U.S. nuclear-weapons-related facilities, laboratories, reactors, and research activities, including the location of fuel for bombs; the Department of Energy (DOE) prepared the report, and Government Printing Office (GPO) printed it so it could be submitted to the IAEA — but the GPO went ahead and, mistakenly, posted 268-page dossier on its Web site

  • Sweden selects location for central nuclear waste repository

    The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project now appears doomed, but in Sweden a location has been selected for that country’s central nuclear waste disposal site

  • New flood warning system developed

    Researchers from the United Kingdom and China develop a software-based flood warning system which takes into account both climate change and corresponding hydrological effects

  • Flood-proofing New York City with storm barriers

    New York City faces two problems with water: rising ocean level and surges created by hurricanes and Nor’easters; engineers propose a system of barriers to prevent New Orleans-like flooding

  • Melting Greenland ice threatens northeast U.S., Canada

    The melting of Greenland’s ice sheets is driving more and more water toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax, and other cities in the northeastern United States

  • A fish called WANDA

    Aussie researchers develop a robotic fish that can swim toward objects of interest to investigate; the Wireless Aquatic Navigator for Detection and Analysis (WANDA) is propelled by a flexible joint tail fin that is activated through artificial muscles made from a conducting polymer

  • U.S. unprepared for severe solar storms

    Mankind’s vulnerability to disruptions caused by severe solar storms has increased as a result of the increasing dependence of human societies on technology and electricity; a storm on the scale of the 1859 Carrington Event could damage the U.S. electrical grid to such an extent that vast regions of the country could be without power for weeks, perhaps months.

  • Rules about hazmat trains worry Pennsylvania officials

    Officials in Pennsylvania’s York and Adams counties are uneasy about the prospect of having hazardous material roll through their counties

  • Fly ash as source material for fireproof concrete

    Australia’s coal-fired power plants produce 13.5 million tons of fly ash every year; researchers show that this ash may be used as valuable source material for fireproof concrete;

  • Opposition growing to LNG project near Baltimore

    Virginia-based gas company AES wants to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in eastern Baltimore County; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission placed 169 conditions, mostly related to safety and environment, on its approval of the project; residents in the neighboring communities say the company is far from meeting these conditions

  • Dounreay nuclear dismantling team to use giant robot

    The U.K.’s experimental fusion nuclear reactor was ordered shut down and dismantled; dismantling team unveils a design for a 75-ton robot which will cut up radioactive equipment

  • Glass-based coating for reinforcement bars for sturdier infrastructure

    Researchers develop glass-based coating for reinforcement bars that helps prevent corrosion and strengthens the bond between steel and concrete; the material could help engineers build stronger bridges and increase the longevity of other steel-reinforced structures

  • SCADA more vulnerable than ever

    Modern SCADA networks are more vulnerable than ever because they use open networking standards (such as TCP/IP), are now deployed under less secure operating systems (Windows), are connected to other networks (including Internet), and cannot be easily updated and rebooted