New capability may offer applications for homeland security, war theatres. From the beginning, researchers at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Sandia National Laboratories, the creators of the Army’s Explosive Destruction System (EDS), suspected the system could, in addition to snuffing out chemical warfare material, treat and destroy biohazards such as those containing anthrax. Such a system could give homeland security personnel a tool for safely neutralizing a dormant terrorist device, or it could be used by the military to remove a land mine or canister shell without having to set off an open-air explosion. A just-released study at Sandia confirms EDS’s effectiveness against biological agents, bio-contaminated containers, and improvised biological devices. Sandia sponsored the study itself, spending $60K in Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) funds over the past year to confirm the capability. The report, says Sandia researchers, augments the system’s already established capability to destroy explosively configured munitions containing chemical agents. Full Story
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