Valley Forge Composite Technologies, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and several Russian Institutes led by P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI) announced the completion of a collaborative Department of Energy (DOE) Global Initiative for Proliferation Prevention (GIPP) project to develop equipment and procedures for detecting explosive materials concealed in airline checked baggage and cargo.
Valley Forge Composite Technologies, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and several Russian Institutes led by P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI) announced the completion of a collaborative Department of Energy (DOE) Global Initiative for Proliferation Prevention (GIPP) project to develop equipment and procedures for detecting explosive materials concealed in airline checked baggage and cargo.
Technical objectives of the project included the development and automation of the accelerator-detector complex for high efficiency detection of hidden explosives. Data acquisition and a photonuclear signature database were created. The system was operated and tested albeit on a limited sample size. A technique for the time analysis of signals from latent targets was developed and tested. This resulted in the positive identification of carbon and/or nitrogen. These techniques detected measurable decay from the radioisotopes formed upon irradiation.
This Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) project was intended to address the objectives of the Border and Transportation Security Program (BTSP) and the Chemical and Biological National Security Program (CBNP) for LLNL's homeland security organization in support of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Security Administration (NNSA).
"This was the culmination of a significant research and development effort that impacts several national and world security needs. This advanced system has the potential to be a technological breakthrough in detection capability and accuracy. Valley Forge was honored to work with some leading scientists of The United States of America and the Russian Federation on this project," said Louis Brothers, CEO Valley Forge.