Infrastructure protection

First weapons-grade plutonium found in a dump
The oldest batch of weapons-grade plutonium was found inside a glass jar buried at a dump at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington State
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Japan to restart controversial fast-breeder reactor
Japan, an economic giant with no natural energy resources, is to restart its controversial fast-breeder nuclear reactor this year after a series of safety scares caused the closing of the plant for more than 13 years
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Freight train derails near Chicago
Seventeen cars are derailed near a suburb west of Chicago; two of the cars contained molten sulfur, and authorities treat the accident as hazmat event
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Utilities plan to stay the course with spending plans for infrastructure
Despite the economic slowdown, utilities around the world plan to press ahead with investments in both their infrastructure and “smart grid” automation program; investments will be in the range of $90-$105 billion
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Detecting rusted metal encased in concrete structures
Many of the problems of aging infrastructure owe to rusting metal; trouble is, much of that metal is encased in concrete — in bridges, tunnels, dams, roads; new technology uses electromagnetic fields to measure corrosion through non-ferrous material
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New sensors to monitor health of U.S. infrastructure
Northeastern University researchers are working on developing new sensor systems for cars and trucks that will allow road and bridge infrastructure to be assessed in real-time across the United States
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SwissCopter in $15 million Middle East deal
Swiss developer of manned and unmanned systems for surveillance and search-and-rescue — and the innovative software these systems use — receives an order from an “unnamed Middle Eastern government”
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States, localities are slow to repair poorly maintained levees
Two years ago the U.S. government identified 122 levees as too poorly maintained to be reliable in major floods; only forty-five of them had necessary repairs; people living behind the unrepaired levees should be concerned
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More secure European electrical grid
Several European Transmission System Operators (TSOs) launch a new initiative designed to improve electrical systems security throughout Europe
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Mobile security market to reach $890 million by 2011
Mobile security market will continue to grow, driven by backhaul and data center upgrades
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Day of smart grid nears
Major blackouts may be a thing of the past: the world’s first high-voltage Li-ion system can connect to the grid, without a transformer, and immediately turn on if there is a disruption in power
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Briefly noted
The principles which should guide Obama’s $700 billion infrastructure plan… Cisco becomes infrastructure player on Obama tech focus… EU piracy mission chief calls for more surveillance equipment
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Making older buildings safer during earthquakes
Buildings being built now in earthquake-prone regions are designed better to withstand tremors; trouble is, for a long while yet, most of the buildings in which people live and work were built before new earthquake-related design concepts and new materials were available; UC San Diego researchers look for ways to make these buildings safer
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FBI: Growing copper theft threatens U.S. critical infrastructure
The FBI says that, individually, isolated instances of copper theft cause big enough headaches of their own, but taken together, they present a significant problem for the United States — a threat to public safety and to U.S. critical infrastructure
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NIST releases final WTC 7 report
NIST releases final version of its investigation into the collapse of World Trade Center building 7; heating of floor beams and girders caused a critical support column to fail, initiating a fire-induced progressive collapse that brought the building down
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