Radiological threats

Historic sample of bomb-grade plutonium discovered
Scientists stumble upon, then identify, the oldest batch of weapon-grade plutonium; methods used in identification can help in anti-proliferation efforts
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IG: DoE cannot account for nuclear materials at several locations
Department of Energy’s Inspector General finds that the department could not accurately account for the quantities and locations of nuclear material at 15 out of 40, or 37 percent, of facilities reviewed
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Nuclear waste piling up at U.S. hospitals
Federal, state, and local governments, as well as individual hospitals, have no long-term disposal plan in place for millions of radioactive devices
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NNSA ships more high-risk nuclear material out of Livermore
Latest shipment reduces high-security nuclear material onsite by an additional 20 percent; part of the government’s plan to consolidate nuclear materials at five sites by 2012, with significantly reduced square footage at those sites by 2017
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World's largest supercomputer will be used for nuclear stockpile research
IBM to build a 20 petaflops supercomputer, called Sequoia, for the Lawrence Livermore lab; a petaflop stands for a quadrillion floating-point operations per second; to put Sequoia’s computing power in perspective, what it can do in one hour would take all 6.7 billion people on Earth with hand calculators 320 years, if they worked together on the calculation for 24 hours per day, 365 days a year
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U.S. court dismisses Pacific nuclear test lawsuits
Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests at the Bikini and Enewetak atolls; the residents of the two islands were removed before the tests and settled elsewhere; the residents were awarded more than $1 billion, and a judicial panel says this is enough
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Ireland examines need for radioactive waste facility near Shannon
Terrorists may try to smuggle nuclear materials into the United States through Ireland; Irish government will build radioactive waste facility near Shannon airport in case radiological screening of aircraft bound for the United States discovers such material
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Decision on U.K. site for next generation nuclear reactor nears
The U.K. government has given the nuclear industry two months to choose a site for the next generation nuclear reactor; from 2010, developers will be able to apply for development permits for the sites chosen
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The global consequence of a regional nuclear war
The world should be worried about a regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan because the consequences of such a war will be anything but regional; scientists say that one billion people may starve to death around the world, and hundreds of millions more will die from disease and conflicts over food
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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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Alps laboratory tests methods of storing nuclear waste
Two test tunnels in Switzerland are used to study methods of storing nuclear waste; many scientists from around the world take part in the research
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Graham, Talent: U.S. should do more to prevent terrorist attack
The leaders of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism say that the incoming administration must do more, much more, to prevent a terrorist attack on the United States
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Radioactive-waste tracking software deployed at U.K. nuclear sites
The radioactive-waste tracking software developed by Tennessee-based AttentionIT will be deployed in decommissioned U.K. nuclear facilities; the waste tracking software provides electronic storage of information related to “cradle to grave” treatment of radioactive and mixed waste
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AS&E in $2.8 million X-ray detection van deal
Massachusetts-based developer of the Z Backscatter detection van reports yet another contract for its “drive-by” inspection system; this contract follows in the wake of several other deals for the company’s solution
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Independent commission: WMD attack by terrorists likely
An independent commission of experts, set up by Congress as part of the recommendations by the 9/11 commission, concludes that terrorists will most likely carry out an attack with biological, nuclear, or other unconventional weapons somewhere in the world in the next five years
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