Monday, March 22, 2010

The CSI Officers For Nuclear Materials And Loose Nukes

Julie Gostic at Lawrence Livermore National Lab works with a flow-through chemical automation system. The US government is training a new wave of nuclear scientists to help it stay up to date on nuclear forensics. Jacqueline McBride/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

US Trains Nuclear Detectives To Trace 'Loose' Nukes -- Christian Science Monitor

As nuclear safety concerns rise, the US government is building a stable of nuclear detectives – offering summer internships to those interested in radiochemistry nuclear forensics.

He was stopped at a border checkpoint just after midnight, crossing from Romania into Bulgaria, when guards doing a routine inspection of his car turned up documents written in Russian – including one that described a shipment of uranium.

It was enough to make the guards suspicious. Popping the trunk, they found an air compressor inside, and upon closer inspection a tiny amount of highly enriched uranium, encased in a small glass vial, encased in wax, encased in a lead container.

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My Comment: To say that their work is important is an understatement.

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