• NRC rejects Westinghouse's new nuclear reactor design

    In what must be seen as a setback for the nuclear power industry, the NRC said that a key component of Westinghouse’s new reactor design might not withstand events like earthquakes and tornadoes

  • A terrorist nuclear attack on the U.S. is a "preventable catastrophe"

    Graham Allison assesses the likelihood of a terrorist nuclear attack on the United States — and offers the “Doctrine of Three No’s” to prevent such an attack; the central points of this doctrine: “No unsecured nuclear weapons and weapons-usable material”; “no new national capabilities to enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium” and “no expansion of the nuclear club beyond its current 8.5 members”

  • A first: Criminals steal nuclear material, than demand ransom for its return

    Criminals in Argentina steal cesium-137 from a drilling company, then demand $500,000 and threaten “to make this city glow” if they did not get the money

  • NRC investigates crack at Crystal River nuclear plant

    The Crystal River containment structure is about 42 inches thick, contains steel support tendons, and is lined with steel plates; workers found a crack in the concrete about nine inches from the outer surface

  • Imagining new threats -- and countering them

    DHS air transport security lab is in the business of imagining new threats — then developing the technologies to counter them; their dream? To build a “tunnel of truth” in each airport lined with hidden sensors, scanners, and rays; passengers would get zapped and sniffed as they passed, and would not need to take off their shoes, toss their liquids, or anything else

  • Radioactive rabbit poo found at plutonium production site

    A clean-up survey at the Hanford site in Washington State, where military-grade plutonium was produced during the early years of the cold war, discovered radioactive jackrabbit droppings around the site; the rabbits burrowed in the area and discovered the tanks in which nuclear waste is stored; they liked the salty taste of the radioactive cesium and strontium salts, so they began drinking and licking them routinely

  • Raytheon delivers mobile radiation detection system

    Raytheon delivers advanced SUV-based radiation detection system to Florida’s Department of Transportation

  • ASE shows cargo and vehicle inspection system

    American Science and Engineering, Inc. combines its patented Z Backscatter technology with High Energy Transmission to offer enhanced scanning system for vehicles, cargo; system may be used in drive-by mode to scan stationary objects, or in portal mode to scan vehicles as they drive past the system

  • High-tech nuke detectors check Puget Sound small vessels for WMD

    Pacific Northwest National Laboratory coordinated activities with the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection, and many other state, local, and tribal agencies for the two-day nuclear detection exercise

  • Fujitsu asks terrorists whether they would use its software for WMD

    Fujitsu runs a patching site for Sun Microsystems’ Solaris Unix variant; the company asks end-users to fill out a survey before downloading the latest patch, and the first question asks whether the customer would be using the patch to build WMD; even if you admit to building a nuclear bomb, Fujitsu allows you to download the patch; either Fujitsu targets really honest terrorists, or the company wants to use the information in its advertising (as in: “5% of our customers are terrorists who use our software to build weapons of mass destruction”)

  • GAO: FEMA not ready for nuclear, radiological attack

    GAO: “FEMA has not developed a national disaster recovery strategy or related plans to guide involvement of federal agencies in these recovery activities, as directed by federal law and executive guidance”

  • Mafia's new business: sinking nuclear waste at sea

    The Sicilian Mafia had muscled in on the lucrative business of radioactive waste disposal; to increase the profit margin, mafia operatives blow up and sink the ships at sea rather than process the nuclear waste on board

  • Using waste to recover waste uranium

    Researchers find that a combination of bacteria and inositol phosphate can be used to recover uranium from the polluted waters from uranium mines; method may be used to process nuclear waste

  • Using lasers in nuclear decommissioning

    High-power lasers could remove contaminated surfaces of concrete and cut up metal pipework and process vessels inside nuclear reactors, or other contaminated environments

  • Radiation is a constant presence in our lives

    The normal radiation we are exposed to causes the following: For every 100 million people, there will be 4,100 fatal cancers, 2,500 nonfatal cancers, 4,600 genetic defects (not all of which are obvious); for every additional mrem per person per year, the above rates will increase .67 percent