Global Security Newswire

Japan intends to establish the capacity to forecast the dispersal patterns of dangerous materials released following a potential WMD attack or mishap, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Sunday (see GSN, May 10, 2007).

The Japanese Defense Ministry is working on technology that could determine how radiation would spread following another atomic energy plant incident or a feared nuclear attack, along with chemical and biological agents such as sarin nerve gas and anthrax.

The System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information is currently employed to postulate the dispersal patterns of radioactive elements. 

The desired technology would be able to issue new dispersal predictions every five minutes for areas measuring dozens of meters across, display the results on a color-coded map, and make postulations as far as 24 hours into the future. 

The ministry would employ the technology to protect troops taking part in rehabilitation efforts and to guide evacuation decisions. The technology would be mounted on specialized vehicles sent into contaminated regions.

The technology is also intended to have the forensic ability to identify the source of WMD and other substances by analyzing on their dispersal patterns (Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 29).