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Nation states, not only terrorist organizations, consider dirty bombs
Six decades ago the U.S. seriously considered including radiological weapons (“dirty bombs”) in its arsenal; Syria and Iran are doing so today; U.S. should have a dirty-bomb nonproliferation policy
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DHS awards $33 million for radiation detection demonstrations
DHS wants a tehcnology which will be able to detect radiation from a distance — and determine the direction, flux, energy, and isotope of the detected radiation; three companies win the Stand-Off Radiation Detector System (SORDS) demonstration contracts
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UC Berkeley to examine new methods of screening for nuclear materials
The Academic Research Initiative, a new DHS-NSF project, give a UC Berekeley scientists $1.4 million to develop new methods for screening for nuclear materials
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DHS funds nuclear training
One-third of the current U.S. nuclear workforce will reach retirement in the next ten years; DHS joins with NSF to foster the training of the next generation of nuclear workers
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Smiths, GE call off JV
Smiths and GE thought that bringing their considerable detection know-how and assets together in a JV would create a mighty player in homeland security; but Smiths’s detection unit has been doing very well on its own, so the rationale for a JV was no longer as compelling
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Bruker in Phase III of automatic, unattended chemical detector
DHS awards Bruker $1.3 follow-on Phase III contract for the Autonomous Rapid Facility Chemical Agent Monitor project
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Sandia tests new approach to radiation detection
Sandia physicists have an idea: Scan freight containers for radiation not at the port, but at sea: “You’ve got days on the ocean, and you only get minutes in the port,” says one of them
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India delays decision on container security pact with U.S.
Indian cabinet was yesterday supposued to ratify India’s participation in CSI; cabinet delays decision pending U.S. clarification on tying CSI to non-priliferation pact
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Fake company obtains licence to buy nuclear materials
Sting operation proves that a fake company could obtain a license to buy enough radioactive material to build a dirty bomb
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DoE awards nuclear fuel cycle grants
DoE’s Office of Nuclear Energy awards grants to graduate students for research into closing the nuclear fuel cycle and recycling components of used nuclear reactor fuel
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IAEA is running short on funds
You would think that with problems such as North Korea, Iran, and securing nuclear materials in the former USSR, the IAEA would be given the means to make the world safer; think again
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Beijing to hold dirty bomb drill next month
In the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese authorities practice responses to various terrorist attacks
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EU regulation may limit use of MRI technology
To protect employees in the electricity and mobile-phone industries, the EU formulated regulations limiting exposure to radiation — regulation which may have unintended consequences
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Russia worried about terrorists with WMD
Following a 2006 agreement between Russia and the U.S., Russia is implementing a tighter control and monitoring of nuclear facilities; still, Russian authorities are worried
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Russia to install radiation detectors at all border crossings
U.S. to help Russia install radiation detection systems in all of Russia’s official international border crossings, including airports, seaports, railways, and land crossings
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