Experts Call for Firm Age Limit on Plutonium Weapons
Los Alamos National Laboratory
The U.S. has nearly 4,000 stockpiled nuclear weapons, and Scientific American wonders what will happen to all of their aging plutonium cores. Experts have said the plutonium will last at least 100 years, but it’s probably still smart to make backup plans—and the Trump administration is doing just that, with aims to replace all the cores by 2080.
Nuclear weapons with plutonium cores, mostly of the “implosion” type, replaced the original crude nuclear weapons beginning in 1945. These new weapons required plutonium as the fuel in their nuclear reactions, and plutonium is found in nature in only tiny amounts in very specific situations. To make enough to power thousands of weapons in the U.S. alone and thousands more around the world, a new plutonium production cottage industry sprang up.
America's Worst Nuclear Waste Dump
Revealed: The Soviet Spy Who Built Our Atom Bomb
This Powder—Not Gas—Could Rescue Nuclear Fusion
Plutonium is part of the reactor makeup of many nuclear power plants, but reactor-grade plutonium and weapons-grade plutonium are different. The latter has always required dedicated production facilities, because plutonium that works in reactors is not right for weapons and can’t be substituted at any ratio. Weapons plutonium is made by subjecting nuclear materials to a short burn that produces plutonium-239, and the same materials left to “cook” for longer turn into plutonium-240.
The World Nuclear Association explains that Pu-240 is a “contaminant” in weapons that require Pu-239. Separating the two in terms of enforcement of nuclear regulation and anti-proliferation is hard, but the fact that weapons-grade plutonium must be so pure and prepared so specifically is a self-selecting limitation.
SciAm reports that the U.S. weapons-grade plutonium facility was shut down in 1989, which means the newest weapon core made there is now 31 years old. The U.S. government has made a handful of new cores, but these were treated as exceptions, not part of a new production facility or program. There have been no new plutonium cores in the U.S. since 2013, with just 31 produced during a window between 2007 and 2013 at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
A 2007 report published that now-famous estimate that plutonium cores will last for at least 100 years, but the Trump administration believes 2089—100 years after the last plutonium cores from the dedicated U.S. facility—will arrive sooner than we think. And even the reporting body and the sponsoring National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) think the real window might be much smaller. The Trump administration plans to begin producing new cores to refresh the fleet by 2080.
To throw a wrench in the works, the NNSA says it’s already snowed in by both current projects and the development of a new nuclear warhead called W87-1. This new warhead will require its own new kind of weapons-grade plutonium core. SciAm is asking for the NNSA to revisit and firm up the estimate of the lifetime of plutonium cores, because safely postponing making new cores for old weapons could save “tens of billions of dollars” and prevent a terrible-sounding plutonium production rush.
Standoff IED, VBIED, PBIED, Weapon And Explosives Detection Market: Facts, Figures and Analytical Insights In 2020
Jan 29, 2020 (AmericaNewsHour) -- Terrorist attacks using IEDs, Person-Borne IEDs (PBIED) and Vehicle-Borne IEDs (VBIED) have peaked in 2007 due to the U.S. & NATO wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. While the withdrawal of the U.S. from these countries resulted in a decline of VBIED & PBIED attacks, we now face a new surge of suicide attacks which are growing at an alarming rate (see figure).
In 2014 alone, there were 424 confirmed PBIED & VBIED suicide attacks - an increase of 90% over the 223 suicide attacks in 2011 - causing the death of 3,554 people by 2014 vs. 2,027 in 2011 (*).
In the new "Standoff IED, Person-Borne & Vehicle-Borne Explosives & Weapon Detection: Technologies & Global Market - 2015-2020" report we forecast that the cumulative 2015-2020 revenues will reach $8.4 billion. IED, PBIED and VBIED attack threats are now a global problem, driving a growing number of security and defense forces to acquire cutting-edge standoff IED, PBIED & VBIED detection equipment.
Download Sample of This Strategic Report: https://www.kennethresearch.com/sample-request-10073304
The purpose of standoff PBIED, VBIED and weapon detection technologies is to determine at a safe distance if a human subject or a vehicle is carrying explosives or weapons. Concealed explosives detection is perceived as one of the greatest challenges facing the counter-terror and military communities. The threat posed by suicide bombers is the key to the emergence of transformational counter-terror technologies and tactics. The maturity and deployment of advanced standoff detection technologies, capable of detecting suicide and other terrorists at a safe distance, will change the landscape of homeland security and asymmetric warfare.
The explosive and weapon detection market report, segmented into 120 sub-markets, offers for each sub-market 2013-2014 data and 2015-2020 forecasts and analyses. In 340 pages, 113 tables and 200 figures, the explosive and weapon detection market report analyzes and projects the 2015-2020 market.
According to the explosive and weapon detection market forecast, the market growth is boosted by the following drivers:
Strengthening of radical Islamist IED, PBIED & VBIED attacks and threats in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the U.S.The 2011-2014 growth of PBIED & VBIED suicide attacksInvestments of defense forces around the globe in asymmetric warfare equipmentIntroduction of advanced standoff IED, PBIED & VBIED detection devices, technologies and systemsEver-growing profit of aftersale business (e.g., maintenance, upgrades and refurbishment)Standoff IED, PBIED & VBIED Market SegmentationStandoff IED, Person-Borne & Vehicle-Borne Explosives & Weapon Detection: Technologies & Market-2015-2020The report examines (see figure above) each dollar spent in the explosive and weapon detection market via 3 orthogonal money trails: 5 regional, 6 technological and 4 by revenue source markets.
This "Standoff IED, Person-Borne & Vehicle-Borne Explosives & Weapon Detection: Technologies & Global Market - 2015-2020" report is a valuable resource for executives with interests in the defense and HLS market. It has been explicitly customized for industry, security and military decision-makers allowing them to identify business opportunities, developing technologies, market trends and risks; as well as to understand the industry solutions to the threats of suicide terror, and to benchmark business plans.
Questions answered in this 340-page mega report include:
What will the explosive and weapon market size be in 2015-2020?What are the main standoff IED and weapon detection technology trends?Where and what are the market opportunities?What are the market drivers and inhibitors?Who are the key vendors, their products and policy?What are the challenges facing the standoff IED and weapon detection market entrants?The "Standoff IED, Person-Borne & Vehicle-Borne Explosives & Weapon Detection: Technologies & Global Market - 2015-2020" report presents in 340 pages, 113 tables and 200 figures, analysis of dozens of current and pipeline technologies and 17 leading vendors. The report is granulated into 120 vertical and horizontal submarkets, and presents for each submarket 2013-2014 data & analysis, and projects the 2015-2020 market and technologies from several perspectives, including:
Business Opportunities and ChallengesSWOT AnalysisMarket Analysis (e.g., market dynamics, market drivers and inhibitors)Business Issues (e.g., market entry strategies, price elasticity, mergers and acquisitions, customer planning and procurement process)2013 - 2020 Regional and National MarketsCurrent and Pipeline Technologies:Standoff Walk-by & Pass-through Threat Detection Corridors: Walk-through Corridors - Active Electromagnetic Weapons Detection, Passive Electro Magnetic Signature Corridor, Standoff Passive MMWave Doorways, Focal Plane Array Passive MMWave, Walk-through Corridors - Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy Systems, Covert Walk-through Biometric Identification Corridors, Fused Standoff PBIED Detection &Video-based Biometrics, Walk-by Active Centimeter Range (Ku band) Microwave System
Open Space Standoff Explosives & Weapon Detection: Bi-Modal Standoff Open Space IED, PBIED, VBIED - Explosives & Weapon Detection Systems
UGV Standoff IED, Person-Borne & Vehicle-Borne Explosives & Weapon Detection: UGV detection Expectation Management systems, UGV Management software, UGV Mobility technology, Pipeline UGV IED, PBIED & VBIED Detection technologies, Cobham Antenna Technology, IAI CIMS Systems, Standoff MMWave IED Detection robots.
Multi-Modal Fused Standoff IED, Person-Borne & Vehicle-Borne Explosives & Weapon Detection: The CounterBomber Technology
Pipeline Standoff IED, Person-Borne & Vehicle-Borne Explosives & Weapon Detection: Standoff Active MMWave IED, Standoff Passive MMWave Imaging, Standoff MMWave PBIED Gait signatures Detection technologies, Infra-red Standoff Detection, Standoff Terahertz, Laser-Based Explosives Detection technologies, Standoff Raman Spectroscopy, Standoff Non-linear Wave Mixing Detection Technology, Standoff Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) Explosives Detection, Triple Modality Standoff Detection Technology, Differential Phase-Contrast X-ray Imaging, The University of Puerto Rico Advanced standoff Detection Techniques, Rydberg Spectroscopy/Microwave Scattering Based Detection
Request For Full Report: https://www.kennethresearch.com/sample-request-10073304
Key Vendors: Alakai Defense Systems, APSTEC Systems, BAE Systems, Boeing, ChemImage Sensor Systems (CISS), Cobham plc, Flir, Fluidmesh Networks, Genia Photonics, GE Security, Honeywell, IAI, Implant Sciences Corporation, Raytheon, SAGO Systems, TeraView, ThruVision Systems, Rafael.For readers who would like to acquire more information: the report includes 8 in-depth appendices:
R&D Programs and ProjectsThe Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO)Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED)Guided Aerial IEDsRecent (2014) IED, PBIED & VBIED AttacksSuicide TerrorismThe U.S. PBIED, VBIED & IED Detection Eco-SystemShort Term Global Geopolitical Outlook
Request For Full Report: https://www.kennethresearch.com/sample-request-10073304
About Kenneth Research:
Kenneth Research provides market research reports to different individuals, industries, associations and organizations with an aim of helping them to take prominent decisions. Our research library comprises of more than 10,000 research reports provided by more than 15 market research publishers across different industries. Our collection of market research solutions covers both macro level as well as micro level categories with relevant and suitable market research titles. As a global market research reselling firm, Kenneth Research provides significant analysis on various markets with pure business intelligence and consulting services on different industries across the globe. In addition to that, our internal research team always keep a track on the international and domestic market for any economic changes impacting the products' demand, growth and opportunities for new and existing players.
Contact Us
Kenneth Research
Email: Sales@kennethresearch.com
Phone: +1 313 462 0609
The post Standoff IED, VBIED, PBIED, Weapon And Explosives Detection Market: Facts, Figures and Analytical Insights In 2020 appeared first on America News Hour.
COMTEX_361193508/2606/2020-01-29T02:31:56
Number of cases in which Elgin police pulled a weapon or used physical force drops in last year
The number of times an Elgin police officer pulled a gun or Taser to deal with someone resisting arrest or refusing to follow orders dropped in the last year, a decline the police chief attributed to all officers being required to undergo crisis intervention training.
Handguns being pointed at a suspect decreased by 55%, from 11 in 2018 to five last year, the report said. Tasers were displayed 15 times and used 12 times in 2019 compared to being displayed 30 times and used 15 times in 2018, the numbers showed.
While down only 4.2% overall, it shows there’s been a steady decline in use of force incidents over previous years, Police Chief Ana Lalley said.
Crisis intervention training was mandated for all sworn officers in the wake of the fatal 2018 shooting of Decynthia Clements, who was shot by Lt. Chris Jensen when the Elgin woman came at officers with a knife following a standoff.
The training gives officers skills for handling emergency calls involving people having a mental health crisis and ways to de-escalate a situation.
It’s paid off in fewer arrests and fewer instances in which an officer had to get physical with someone or pull a weapon, Lalley said.
“It’s not to say there are appropriate and reasonable situations where the use of force must be used,” she said. But "we value human life. We want people to understand that,” she said.
Officers have learned to methods when responding to calls, Deputy Chief Colin Fleury said.
“What could have led to someone getting in handcuffs now might lead someone going to the hospital and getting checked out,” he said. “We’re making less arrests because we’re talking through a lot of incidents that in the past may have turned violent.”
The police department created several new units to prioritize mental health, including the Emergency Services Detail and Collaborative Crisis Service Unit. The first group responds to an emotionally distressed person or to assist when a SWAT unit is needed while the latter is responsible for doing followup with the person or their family, Lalley said.
“In a professional police department, you want officers who are tactically sound. You want them to use force appropriately, when necessary, and when reasonable,” she said. “You also want officers to understand there’s sometimes a different way to the end results (like) communicating and changing tactical approaches. You want a balance.”
This year, the department pulled out its response to resistance statistics into a separate report. They’re working with the Center for Policing Equity to examine its response to resistance statics for a study that could be complete by August.
Lalley said she plans to make the findings public.
“The good, the bad, whatever’s in there. If there are good things, great. If there are things we need to do better, we’ll fix it,” she said.
Center for Policing Equity’s website states 1 in 5 Americans interact with law enforcement yearly. Of those encounters, one million results in use of force. “And if black, you are 2 to 4 times more likely to have force used than if you are white,” it said.
Elgin statistics show of the 112 incidents of response to resistance, 46 suspects were black, 33 were Hispanic and 33 suspects were white. A majority, 98, were men and 14 were women.
A total of 235 people were charged with resisting/obstructing arrest/aggravated assault/aggravated battery to a police officer in 2019. Of that number, 83 people were black, 13 were Hispanic and 139 were white.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
No comments:
Post a Comment