-
-
-
AS&E reports Q2 financial results
Massachusetts-based radiation-detection specialist shows mixed financial results for Q2 2007; earning per share suffered as a result of the adoption in April of SFAS 123R, and the resulting pre-tax charge; the company boasts of the highest order backlog in company’s history — a respectable $117 million
-
-
Thresher acquires Talon
The market for the secure containment, transportation, and storage of nuclear materials is growing — what with these materials offering lucrative targets for terrorists and growing environmental concerns; Thresher, a company which knows a thing or two about casting and composite materials, is acquiring Talon, a specialist in manufacturing premium metal matrix composites
-
-
Researchers develop portable lab on a chip to identify WMD contamination
Soldiers and first responders are exposed to chemical and biological threats, so there is a need to develop a quick and accurate technology to identify dangerous exposure — a technology, moreover, which can be carried easily into the field or the urban disaster area to perform on-the-spot contamination checks; researchers affiliated with MIT have developed such a technology
-
-
Possible North Korean nuclear test brings business opportunities
Demand seen for small radiation detectors in Asia; manufacturers of potassium iodite, potassium iodide, and potassium iodate should start reviewing inventory now
-
-
Senate passes port inspection deal; no 100% inspection
The beefed-up port security measure places heavy emphasis on radiation detection at U.S. ports, but Republicans fought off Democrats’ demand to include a mandatory 100% inspection of all U.S.-bound cargo containers; bill also increases funding for rail and land transportation security
-
-
Lobbyists resist homeland security measures recommended by 9/11 Commission
Farmers fight off ammonium nitrate controls; television station opposes handing over frequency for emergency services; retailers stick to their guns on radiological screening of containers
-
-
Carbon nanotubes may reduce reliance on nuclear materials
The most pressing nuclear risk is the one involving a dirty bomb: Nuclear materials are used for routine operations by tens of thousands of commercial establishments, requiring a vast system of shipment, handling, and storage; many of these facilities, and practically all of the shipping procedure, are but loosely guarded, if that, offering easy targets for terrorists intent on obtaining the material; would that we had a technology which would reduce our reliance on nuclear materials; Applied Nanotech believes it has such a technology
-
-
Doctors group assails DHS radiological planning
Physicians for Social Responsibilty says DHS has no plan to evacuate communities downwind from a dirty nuke attack; field emergency plans inadequate; DHS says report “lacks a grasp of reality”
-
-
Parsons, along with eleven other companies, receives nuclear waste advanced remediation technology contract
Company will further develop its Continuous Sludge Leaching and New Tank Cesium Removal technologies; total value of six-month contracts is $3.3 million
-
-
London arrests should prompt interest in fluoroscopic detection system
In tests conducted in spring 2004, TSA found that, compared with X-ray machine systems, screeners using the fluoroscopic system from Golan Group were more likely to detect IEDs — especially those “artfully concealed”; it is time to consider to act on the study’s conclusions
-
-
The consequences of one nuclear bomb smuggled into a port in a container
A RAND study says that a 10-kiloton nuclear explosion at the Port of Long Beach could kill 60,000 people instantly, expose 150,000 more to hazardous radiation, and cause ten times more economic loss than the 9/11 terrorist attacks
-
-
TVI announces selection as decontamination system provider for DoD
The contract under the Defense Guardian Installation Protection Program is worth $490,000; company will deploy proprietary fabric shelter structures
-
-
Sandia Labs readies its Rapidly Deployable Chemical Detection System
In a series of tests this summer, Sandia deployed its “detect to warn” system at McAfee Stadium in Oakland. A further test at the Nevada Test Site in August, where it will contend with an authentic chemical discharge, will determine when it will be delivered to DHS.
-
The long view
What We’ve Learned from Survivors of the Atomic Bombs
Q&A with Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, New Vice Chair for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.