Indiana @ MindSay

By Air Force Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith

Special to American Forces Press Service

 

June 12, 2008 - Governors in four of six Midwestern states affected by heavy rains and subsequent flooding called out more than 2,000 National Guard members this week as flood waters forced residents from their homes, left thousands without power and damaged infrastructure. The severe weather began in the region June 4 and continued for several days, with flood waters continuing to rise today. It included heavy rains, tornados, hail, severe lighting and, in one instance, nearly 11 inches of rain near the Indianapolis area within a matter of hours.

 

Many officials were comparing the floods to the Midwest's historic "Great Flood of 1993," which caused an estimated $15 billion in damage.

 

National Guard members in Indiana, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Iowa were continuing their support to civil authorities with manpower and equipment today. Helping them were additional Guard members from neighboring states.

 

In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels called out more than 1,300 Guard members to assist in evacuations, search and rescue, security, road blocks, sandbagging, and other emergency assistance missions. President Bush declared much of central Indiana a major disaster area.

 

National Guard Bureau officials reported that a variety of Guard equipment was being used to assist emergency responders in Indiana and its affected communities, including 35 5-ton trucks, 37 Humvees, five UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, 26 potable water trailers, 17 light-medium tactile vehicles, and five buses. Still other special equipment and personnel include members of the West Virginia National Guard's 53rd Civil Support Team, as well as an RC-26B Metroliner reconnaissance aircraft.

 

"We are here for the citizens of Indiana," said Army Capt. Andy Weaver in an Indiana National Guard news report. Weaver and other Guard members helped evacuate at least 256 patients from a flooded hospital June 8 in Columbus. "Even though some of our soldiers have been affected by the flooding, they are here helping out the community. This is where they feel they should be," he added.

 

Indiana Guard members also were delivering Red Cross supplies, equipment and personnel to the town of Worthington. They delivered 7,200 gallons of water to the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency and provided self-contained shower units to the town of Hope in Bartholomew County.

 

In Iowa, Guard officials reported many lakes, rivers and streams were at near-record levels, flooding communities and forcing many Iowans out of their towns and homes. Gov. Chet Culver mobilized at least 640 Guard soldiers and airmen for state active duty to assist in the state's disaster response. The governor declared 40 counties as disaster areas.

 

The Guard members are partnering with federal, state, county and local officials in at least 11 counties and are providing generator support and emergency drinking water. Other Guard members are involved in sandbagging and transportation, as well as securing bridges.

 

A band of storms that moved across West Virginia on June 5 caused severe flooding that forced Gov. Joe Manchin to declare a state of emergency for at least 15 counties.

 

At least 97 West Virginia Guard members responded to affected areas with military dump trucks, Humvees, water supplies, backhoes and other equipment to assist residents and local responders as river levels climbed. The Guard members were removing debris with their equipment in at least five counties.

 

The Wisconsin National Guard mobilized at least 80 soldiers and airmen. The soldiers were providing potable water and sandbags to flooded counties. Officials reported that soldiers of 2nd Brigade were tasked to deliver 20,000 sandbags to Dodge County and the village of Mukwonago. Guard soldiers from 147th Aviation were assisting in aerial damage-assessment missions for military and state leaders. The other states flew similar aerial assessment missions for their leaders.

 

Army Spc. Cassandra Groce from the Kentucky National Guard reported today that an RC-26B from 186th Air Refueling Wing in Meridian, Miss., arrived in Wisconsin yesterday to fly over dozens of affected areas in the state to provide live video. A similar Guard aircraft from West Virginia flew missions over flooded areas of Indiana.

 

The capability allows engineers on the ground to plan reconstruction of damaged infrastructure and was employed after Hurricane Katrina. It was tested during last year's Guard response to the California wildfires and is now being used for the first time in the flooded states, Groce reported.

 

Army Master Sgt. Paul Gorman from the Wisconsin Guard reported yesterday that 924th Engineer Detachment dispatched engineer elements to team up with civilian engineers at key damage sites in three heavily affected counties. A Wisconsin Guard UH-60 Black Hawk from 147th Aviation Battalion also provided aerial assessment, Gorman reported.

 

In addition, 54th Civil Support Team brought communication, liaison and combat-lifesaver capabilities to support the ground-based engineer element in western Vernon County.

 

(Air Force Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith serves with the National Guard Bureau.)

CSU [Colorado State University] regional biocontainment lab first to start research [on the West Nile virus]

“The Rocky Mountain Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at Colorado State University has formally received ‘select agent’ research approval from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making it the first lab of its kind in the country to begin studying these highly regulated bioterrorism agents. The university is among the world's leaders in researching West Nile virus, drug-resistant tuberculosis, yellow fever, dengue, hantavirus, plague, tularemia and other diseases. The new facility provides the university with improved and safer equipment to research ways to protect the United States from bioterrorism and emerging diseases such as avian influenza. Researchers will investigate and develop new treatments and vaccines to protect against these agents.” (High Plains Journal; 23May08) http://www.hpj.com/archives/2008/may08/may26/CSUregionalbiocontainmentla.cfm?title=CSU%20regional%20biocontainment%20lab%20first%20to%20start%20research

 

Evolva SA [Basel, Switzerland] Subsidiary Signs $22.8 Million Antibacterial Contract with US Army Research Office, Builds Out US Operations

“Genetic Chemistry Inc. (Palo Alto, [California] USA), a subsidiary of Evolva SA (Basel, Switzerland) announced today that it has signed a contract with the US Army Research Office (ARO), working in conjunction with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), to discover novel therapeutics against the gram negative bacterial pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei (a CDC [Center for Disease Control] category B bioterrorism agent that causes the disease melioidosis). Over the contract period funding could amount to $22.8 million.” (Fierce Biotech; 23May08) http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-releases/evolva-sa-subsidiary-signs-22-8-million-antibacterial-contract-us-army-research-offic

 

CSWAB [Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger] Leverages Limitations on Open Detonation of Deadly WWII Munitions on Saipan [Mariana Islands]

“EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] Region 9 has agreed to prohibit open detonation of chemical, radiological, and biological munitions that might be found on Saipan, the largest island and capital of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a chain of 15 tropical islands in the western Pacific Ocean.  The prohibition is the direct result of intervention by concerned community members. The designated detonation area is located on Marpi Point, a public lands property on Saipan that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. CNMI plans to clear nearby tropical rain forest lands and grant them to over 500 indigenous individuals and families for new homesteads.” (Pacific Magazine; 22May08) http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/05/22/cswab-leverages-limitations-on-open-detonation-of-deadly-wwii-munitions-on-saipan

 

Is Milwaukee [Wisconsin] Prepared For A Bio-Terrorism Attack?

“The federal government is quietly monitoring the air in Milwaukee for evidence of a bio-terrorism attack, but 12 News’ Kent Wainscott uncovered some holes in the government’s secret safety net, including late detection time, delayed response and a lack of funding for response initiatives.”

(WISN; 22May08; Kent Wainscott)

http://www.wisn.com/news/16363828/detail.html?rss=mil&psp=news

 

E. coli Outbreak in [North Bergen] New Jersey?

“Over the course of two hours on a recent Friday, 20 people arrived, one by one, for emergency care at the Palisades Medical Center here. Each separately complained of various gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea and diarrhea. A coincidence? Or the harbinger of a brewing epidemic, potentially threatening a larger swath of the Garden State?  Fortunately, the onslaught of patients was actually part of a disaster drill conducted by the medical facility that also involved the Hudson Regional Health Commission, the public health agency serving parts of Northern New Jersey. The purported scenario was an E. coli outbreak at a local restaurant, and the patients were actually volunteers from a nearby high school pretending to be ill. […] That early warning of developing threats to public health can give public health professionals a valuable head start in recognizing and managing disease spread and epidemic outbreaks, as well as possible bioterrorism, a surge in criminal assaults and even tainted street drugs.” (Yahoo Finance; 22May08)

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080522/neth065.html?.v=49

 

THV [News] Extra: Past, Present, and Future of Pine Bluff [Arkansas] Arsenal

“Big changes are coming to the Jefferson County communities of White Hall and Pine Bluff; some are even considering it an economic crisis. That's because more than 1,000 jobs are about to be cut at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. […] The deadly chemical weapons are what have grabbed the public's attention about the Pine Bluff Arsenal. Workers are on a mission to store and destroy them. They handle VX rockets and landmines. Just a pin drop of the chemical is deadly within minutes. The Army also stored and destroyed GB rockets there.” (Today’s THV; 21May08; Melissa

Dunbar-Gates)

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=66186&catid=2

 

Pueblo [Colorado] Chemical Depot builds new plant to neutralize chemical weapons

“East of Pueblo, construction is underway on a new multi-billion dollar processing plant at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. When completed the Department of Defense will use it to destroy 2,600 tons of chemical weapons currently stored in igloos at the depot. The project is expected to bring hundreds of new jobs to Pueblo.” (KOAA; 21May08; David Ortiviz) http://www.koaa.com/aaaa_top_stories/x1331637897

 

Nerve agent destruction passes 90 percent mark [Newport Chemical Depot, Indiana]

“A billion-dollar project to destroy a deadly nerve agent stored in western Indiana is entering its final stages now that workers have eliminated more than 90 percent of its cache of the Cold War-era chemical weapon. By late August, Army contractors expect to destroy the last of the 1,269 tons of VX nerve agent the Newport Chemical Depot once housed, said Jeff Brubaker, the Army's onsite manager.” (Chicago Tribune; 21May08; Rick Callahan)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-nerveagent,0,4373714.story

 

Taming toxic waste

“Deleting e-mails and recycling newspapers are most people's biggest concerns when it comes to getting rid of waste. But what if you're a world leader and have a stash of forbidden deadly chemicals on hand? Or what if terrorists suddenly swoop down and let loose with toxic nerve agents? Who you gonna call? Well, Queen's University [Ontario, Canada] researchers Stan Brown and Alexei Neverov, specialists in catalytic chemistry, may be just the pair. The two have developed a method for rapidly and safely destroying toxic agents, ranging from chemical weapons to pesticides.”

(CBC News; 22May08; Georgie Binks)

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/05/09/f-science-queenstoxicwaste.html

 

U.N. [United Nations] nuclear agency helping China minimize threat of 'dirty bomb' at Beijing Olympics

“The U.N. nuclear agency said Friday it is helping China minimize the threat of a terrorist targeting the Beijing Olympics with a radiological ‘dirty bomb,’ although officials stressed they have no intelligence pointing to such an attack. Anita Nilsson, head of nuclear security for the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said agency experts were assisting the Chinese authorities with simulated exercises designed to test their response.” (USA Today; 23May08; William J. Kole) http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-05-23-2920776148_x.htm

 

National Guard performs hazmat exercise at Coliseum [Bloomington](Illinois)

“U.S. Cellular Coliseum was the site of a practice session Wednesday, but the professionals weren’t using hockey sticks or footballs and wore very different kinds of protective gear. Twenty-two members of the Bartonville-based Illinois National Guard 5th Civil Support Team were being evaluated during a formal training exercise simulating a hazardous event at the Coliseum. Guardsmen were clad in hazardous materials suits, and an array of emergency trucks and trailers filled a lot northwest of the building. In Wednesday’s scenario, a ‘dissident group’ attacked people attending a volleyball match the night before, said Lt. Col. Larry Ritter, from U.S. Army North in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.” (Pantagraph; 22May08; Greg Cima) http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/05/22/news/doc48342ca5094f3713593696.txt

 

Response force trains for attacks [Mead, Nebraska]

“Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) attacks on United States soil require aid from specially trained national guard men and women. Special disaster training was administered last week on the National Guard's training ground near Mead. The men and women who respond to CBRNE attacks are validated members of the CBRNE enhanced response force package (CERFP).” (Bellevue Leader; 21May08; DeManda Arkfeld)

http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/tab8.cfm?newsid=19710158&BRD=2712&PAG=461&dept_id=557010&rfi=6

 

China’s Nonproliferation Practices [Patricia McNerney, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Security and Nonproliferation]

“The Government of China has come to recognize that it has a fundamental security interest in preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. In many ways, it has demonstrated its interest in becoming a responsible nonproliferation partner. It is now a party to many international nonproliferation instruments, including the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and is also a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the Zangger Committee. China has adopted export controls similar to the Australia Group control lists on chemical and biological related items, and has enacted missile-related export controls. And, the Government of China has approved a series of new laws and regulations designed to establish comprehensive national export control regulations.” (U.S. Department of State; 20May08) http://www.state.gov/t/isn/rls/rm/105084.htm

 

Al Qaeda now tougher to defeat: U.S. defense chief

“The United States' initial military success against al Qaeda and other Islamist extremists has yielded a diffuse organization of independent elements that are now more difficult to defeat, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday. […] Gates also said the threat of those groups using chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or cyber weapons is growing.” (Reuters; 21May08; Kristin Roberts)

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSB65044320080522

 

CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.

Man has but the simple task of balance.  Balance is not the same as moderation.  That balance entails the unique and tumultuous duty of acting in a way that brings neither extreme or fanaticism nor subjugation.  We act in ways that fulfill consumption.  This may be food, sex, alcohol, reading, etc..  Consumption fuels the inner desire we have for something.  Eckhart Tolle discusses the idea of the ego as being the barrier to enlightenment and stillness.  Hannah Arendt would refer to conditioning, but it becomes a quandary of sorts in understanding the function of conditioning (separate from that of influence).  Man produces conditions, yet he is subject to being a product of conditions.  It seems an inescapable dialectic of life.  To what degree, if any, can we escape conditioning without providing conditions by which to escape previous conditions?  Since we cannot seem to escape conditions and conditioning we must work within them to understand their influence and determinism in imbalance.  Balance is our continuous struggle and reward in life.  We maintain an understanding of our consumption as being appropriated in moderation in order to implement balance that is neither starvation nor gluttony.  This process of balance does not only occur within ourselves but also with ourselves and nature, individually and collectively.  There is not centerfold which holds higher regard than the other because in the cosmic illumination that extends beyond our understanding we are but workers.  What are we working towards?  This remains a question of life and a collective question for humanity.  Man has been given the unfortunate ability of emotion, love and hate, which predicates most of his feelings and willfulness to act.  The balance is to not fall into the extremist disillusionment of fanatical love or hate.  A man who has all the love for the world one day can awake with the bitter taste of hate on his lips the next morning.  Man fails to understand balance and partake in healthy emotional consumption.  When man fails to moderate such consumptions he becomes consumed by it and no longer assumes the role as consumer but product.  He becomes a product with extremism and narrowness of thought.  His balance has shifted from one terminal point to another.  If becomes consumed then he may become confused and unable to discern balance fearing that one movement will shift from one terminal point to another.  Perhaps this manic imbalance is why people struggle with life.  They have been conditioned to allow consumption to consume them and thus are no longer masters of their consumption but products of it.  They are oppressed by the ego as they try to fulfill it but it is an unhappy bitch.  It takes what it wants and destroys, sometimes, violently what it discards.  Man's responsibility is to understand that neither peace nor war can ever sustain man.  It is utopian to believe in sustained peace and abominable to believe in sustained war.  Man will always feud.  His feud will primarily be with himself.  He projects his internal conflict outwardly and thus begins the cycle of providing a condition under which others are conditioned.  It is with moderation, compromise, mediation that we can come to an understanding of balance within ourselves and humanity.  As we look for answers to the world’s problems and degradation of humanity, we must look at the consumption of one and the ill conceived product of being consumed.  When you can balance yourself you can project a balance proposition for conditioning and thus retract the ill fated cycle of extremism and teetering form one terminal point to another.

Antonio Garcia

Indiana University

NTI [Nuclear Threat Initiative]’s Global Health and Security Program Receives Major Grant from Google Foundation

“The Google Foundation today announced a $2.5 million grant to NTI’s Global Health and Security Initiative (GHSI) to greatly enhance its work to rapidly detect, identify and respond to infectious disease outbreaks in Southeast Asia. This funding will strengthen GHSI’s global public health agenda, which includes efforts already underway in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The Global Health and Security Initiative, which develops and implements the biological programs of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), is working around the world to prevent, detect and respond to biological threats. […] NTI’s Global Health and Security Initiative works through innovative partnerships worldwide to address the threat of natural pandemics, accidental outbreaks from laboratories and use of biological agents as a weapon.” (NTI, 17Jan08) http://www.nti.org/c_press/Google_grant_toGHSI_011708.pdf

 

Tracking Outbreaks [in Texas]

“Five major laboratories gather and provide electronic laboratory results from health-care providers across Texas, and each submits as many as 7,800 records a year to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). The state then submits the data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS). The slow and costly process of manually entering data sent in by labs is now becoming a thing of the past in Texas as the state pioneers a data conversion tool that will automatically convert lab results to the appropriate data format regardless of the format in which it was submitted. […] A key goal of the NEDSS, developed in part with the Texas DSHS, is to facilitate the development of integrated, registry-based public health surveillance systems through the exchange of data based on a single set of criteria. The data travels securely via the Internet to the CDC's Public Health Information Network Messaging System. The system can identify people in a region who are developing common symptoms, such as a flulike illness or even bioterrorism.” (Government Technology, 17Jan08, Chandler Harris)

http://www.govtech.com/gt/216914?topic=117677

 

Electronic health record network launched statewide [in Maine]

“Beginning today, Martin's Point Health Care and health-care providers statewide will participate in a pilot project to create an electronic health record network that will allow health-care providers to share patient information statewide. Organizers hope it also will lead to improved and more efficient patient care. Proponents say the new network will allow caregivers to more quickly and efficiently access key clinical information needed to provide the best care for patients, and may help reduce medical errors. Over time, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and HealthInfoNet, a statewide nonprofit organization, expect to link these two systems to allow public health officials to more quickly identify and respond to disease outbreaks, potential epidemics and bioterrorism threats.” (The Times Record, 16Jan08, Beth Brogan) http://www.timesrecord.com/website/main.nsf/news.nsf/0/E9D25A51447B54D4052573D2006DC0ED?Opendocument

 

Delaware Court Denies Motion by SIGA Technologies Seeking to Dismiss PharmAthene's Legal Action in Breach of Contract Lawsuit Against SIGA

“PharmAthene, Inc., a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, announced that the Delaware Chancery Court today issued a ruling denying a motion by SIGA Technologies to dismiss PharmAthene's complaint, which alleges that it has a right to an exclusive license to develop and market SIGA's drug candidate, SIGA-246. SIGA's request to dismiss the claim by PharmAthene was denied in all respects by the Delaware Court. […] SIGA-246 is a small molecule orally-active antiviral drug candidate for the treatment of smallpox.” (PharmaLive.com, 16Jan08, PR Newsire)

http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cfm?articleid=506543&categoryid=27

 

76 percent of Newport [Chemical Depot]'s VX agent neutralized

“About 76 percent of the chemical agent VX stored at Newport Chemical Depot [Indiana] has been chemically neutralized, and VX destruction could be completed as early as this summer, officials say. So far, 1,934,186 pounds of VX have been neutralized, or 229,176 gallons. Neutralization began May 5, 2005. ‘We anticipate completion of neutralization of the Newport stockpile during the summer of 2008,’ said Jeff Brubaker, site project manager for the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, located north of Terre Haute in Vermillion County.” (Terre Haute tribune-Star, 17Jan08, Sue Loughlin) http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_017235148.html?keyword=topstory

 

Chinese war time victims demand compensation

“Two Chinese victims injured by chemical weapons left over in China by Japanese aggressor troops during World War II on Thursday filed a lawsuit to the Tokyo District Court, demanding compensation from the Japanese government. Four Japanese lawyers, representing two Chinese teenage victims, filed the charges to the court in the morning. The Japanese government has deployed and abandoned chemical weapons in China against international law, resulting in the injury to two Chinese children, the lawsuit said. The Japanese government acknowledged the fact that the two children were injured by left-over chemical weapons by Japan but failed to make proper compensation, the plaintiffs said, demanding compensation totaling 66 million yen (around 617,000 U.S. dollars).” (China Daily, 17Jan08, Xinhua) http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-01/17/content_6402295.htm

 

[Hillary] Clinton declares Yucca Mountain [Nevada] 'will be off the table forever'

“Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton put a national spotlight on Nevada's signature issue Wednesday, holding a discussion on Yucca Mountain before a full contingent of national media. ‘When I am president, Yucca Mountain will be off the table forever,’ Clinton said. […] Las Vegas-based transportation consultant Fred Dilger called Nevada just ‘the point of the spear.’ The waste would arrive in 10,000 shipments, many of them going through major cities like Chicago and Atlanta, Dilger said. […] Railway accidents could have tragic consequences, or terrorists could target the shipments, Dilger said. ‘We will have solved the terrorists' problem for them if we implement this.’ Clinton agreed, saying terrorists who want to detonate a ‘dirty bomb’ in America no longer would have to find radioactive material and smuggle it into the country, as it would already be here and difficult to protect.” (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 17Jan08, Molly Ball) http://www.lvrj.com/news/13860977.html

 

Napping Guards Reported at Weapons Plant

“Seven guards have been caught sleeping at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge [Tennessee] since 2000, a federal spokesman said Wednesday. Three were fired and the rest were disciplined, said Steven Wyatt, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, a Department of Energy unit that oversees the Y-12 complex. The administration reported Monday only two guards had fallen asleep at their posts in four years at the high-security plant, about 20 miles west of Knoxville. […] Y-12, a potential terrorist target containing the key ingredients for a ‘dirty bomb,’ makes uranium parts for every warhead in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It also dismantles old weapons and is the nation's primary storehouse for bomb-grade uranium.” (Houston Chronicle; 16Jan08; Duncan Mansfield, AP) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5461127.html

 

Kyrgyzstan: IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] investigates radioactive seizure

 “The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has lodged a formal request with the Kyrgyz government to provide more detailed data on the troubling incident that unfolded in the last days of 2007.  But an IAEA official has told RFE/RL [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] that the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog is still awaiting an official reply from Kyrgyz officials -- a week after they announced that dangerous levels of the radioactive substance cesium-137 had been discovered aboard a freight train bound for Iran. The IAEA official added that Bishkek so far had not asked the agency for any assistance or support on the matter.” (Spero News, 17Jan08, Jeffrey Donovan)

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idarticle=13699

 

'Pac Man' compound could gobble-up nuclear waste

 “An atomic scale version of the Pac-Man could help gobble up nuclear waste. The new work could lay the groundwork for ways to remove trace radioactivity from water, reuse dissolved uranium waste during reprocessing, perhaps even help clean up the mess left by a ‘dirty bomb’. A charged oxide is one of uranium's most prevalent forms, and is a tricky radioactive contaminant to deal with because it is readily soluble in water and inert, so it does not react with many other chemicals, and so is difficult to lock up. Now scientists at the University of Edinburgh report in Nature how they have taken this common form of uranium and enclosed it in a specially designed molecular scaffold to make it much more reactive and easier to handle. The newly discovered uranium compound has a shape which resembles a Pac Man, with a uranium atom in its jaws, which consist of organic molecules.” (Telegraph.co.uk, 16Jan08, Roger Highfield) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/01/16/scipacman116.xml

 

Porton Down guinea-pigs get apology

“An apology and thousands of pounds in compensation are to be offered to hundreds of former Service personnel who acted as guinea-pigs in chemical and biological research tests at Porton Down [U.K.] in the 1950s and 1960s. Lawyers for the Ministry of Defence are in the final stages of negotiations for an out-of-court settlement, which is expected to award £8,300 to each of the 360 Porton Down volunteers who have put in claims – a total bill for the MoD of nearly £3 million. Although the details of the deal were still being worked on yesterday, some Porton Down servicemen said that they were dissatisfied with the compensation being offered.”

(Times Online, 18Jan08, Michael Evans)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3206993.ece

 

CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD terrorism.

I have been in a great cave in Kentucky but unfortunately do not know the name.

but another I'd like to see is Hidden River Cave in historic Horse cave, Ky.I'm sure there are lots of caves in this area.

 

On the other side of the state line in Indiana there is Bluespring caverns.In bedford, In this huge cave offers a boat tour.The boat ride at the Lost Sea cavern in sweetwater, Tn was a real dissapointment so I'd love to try another hopefully better  "mystic voyage".