|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
U.S. Aims for New “Standoff” Radiation Detector By Jon Fox The department has asked all comers — universities, national laboratories and private industry — to leap a technological stumbling block, leading to a “dramatic improvement in national capabilities,” according to a description of the grant program. The effort is being spearheaded by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. Homeland Security launched the division two years ago to improve and coordinate the nation’s post-Sept. 11 efforts to catch at borders and ports nuclear material that might be used in an atomic device or radiological “dirty bomb.” The detection office expects to award two or more grants later this month for development of a new breed of detectors and expects a prototype to be delivered within two years, according DNDO spokeswoman Jenny Burke and an outline of the program posted on a government Web site. It is all part of a bid to address a number of gaps in the nation’s defense against smuggled nuclear materials — what DHS officials like to call a “global nuclear detection architecture.” Holes in that defense include inadequate radiation monitoring along unattended borders, mobile radiation detection systems, and monitoring of cargo and transports while they are still in transit. “Standoff” radiation detectors, or systems that can identify radioactive materials from a distance, could “address multiple challenge areas within the global nuclear detection architecture,” the department writes in its solicitation for prototypes. Work on several technologies has shown that small amounts of radioactive material can be detected traveling at speeds up to 20 mph from a distance of more than 65 meters, DNDO chief Vayl Oxford told Congress during testimony last month. Such a demonstrated capacity represents “a tremendous improvement over previous and current capabilities,” he said. While the research program makes no reference to a minimum detection distance required of the planned technology, The standoff systems developed under the program are expected to be incorporated into deployment scenarios to protect large areas and could perhaps create a network of detection to protect what are currently sparsely guarded borders. The department’s vision for this type of detector is a unit that could be manufactured in the hundreds to form “an essential part” of the defense network. It would be used on land, air or sea, ideally fit into the back of a large sport utility vehicle and cost somewhere shy of $300,000 a unit. The Homeland Security Department is currently testing a next-generation fixed nuclear detector that could scan cargo containers and identify not only the presence of radiation but also the nature of its source. Congress, however, has questioned the efficacy and cost of the new technology (see GSN, March 15). The next-generation portal monitors, as well as the push for mobile detector prototypes, are part of an aggressive move by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office to advance the science of nuclear detection. The detectors undergoing testing, however, remain unable to detect highly enriched uranium concealed behind a layer of shielding such as lead. Late last month, the detection office awarded 10 contracts totaling $8.8 million to nine companies for advanced nuclear detection research as part of its Exploratory Research Program. Earlier in the year, the office awarded seven universities grants totaling $3.1 million to advance nuclear detection research.
| ||||||||||
Back to top
