Topics in this issue include military checkpoint security, nuclear mass casualty treatments, 71st Chemical Company deployment, and Iran deal enforcement.
In This Article
What Will Happen To You When You Storm a US Military Checkpoint?
There are more than 2,900 military checkpoints across the world, presenting obvious targets that different people will engage in different ways. Kamikaze jihadists driving vehicle-borne IEDs have one reason to rush a checkpoint. Refugees fleeing an advancing army have another. Defense One >>
Iran Lawmakers to Wait 80 Days Before Voting on Nuclear Deal
The Iranian Parliament will wait at least 80 days before voting on a nuclear agreement reached last week with world powers, as legislators decided on Tuesday to form a committee to study the accord, state radio reported. The legislators have effectively opted to withhold their judgment until they know whether the American Congress approves of the deal, analysts said, as a way to avoid losing face if the agreement is rejected in the United States. NY Times >>
Advancing Treatments for Nuclear Mass Casualty Burn Injuries
In mass casualty incidents, especially one resulting from the detonation of an improvised nuclear device, thermal burn injuries are one of the significant public health consequences. Several types of burns may be expected due to the release of an immense amount of thermal energy and the resulting secondary fires. Global Biodefense >>
The Plan for Storing US Nuclear Waste Just Hit a Roadblock
America’s favorite problem to ignore—what to do with radioactive waste—just got worse. Since 1987, the grand (and controversial) idea was to put it all in one place, a series of tunnels deep below Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. Well, last week America got three new national monuments, including the 704,000 acres of the Basin and Range National Monument. And guess what? The train that was supposed to carry all that nuclear guck to Yucca Mountain runs right through it. Wired >>
The Tiny, Cash-Strapped Agency at the Heart of the Iran Deal
If the IAEA confirms that Iran is abiding by the strictures of the Joint Plan of Action between the United States, China, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Iran, then sanctions against Iran will be eased, potentially ushering in a new geopolitical era in the Middle East. If the IAEA detects Iranian cheating, those sanctions could be resurrected, endangering the elaborate framework to limit Iran’s nuclear program that negotiators constructed over the course of years. Defense One >>
U.N. Vote on Iran Nuclear Deal Irks Congress
During the closed-door talks in Vienna on limiting Iran’s nuclear program, Secretary of State John Kerry argued that the United Nations Security Council should not vote on lifting sanctions on Iran until Congress had a chance to review the deal. But he ran into a wall of opposition from Iran, Russia and even the United States’ closest European allies, who argued successfully that Security Council action should come first, according to Western officials. NY Times >>
NNSA Should Consider More Than One Alternatives for Lithium Production
An isotope of lithium is a key component of nuclear weapons and is essential for their refurbishment. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) halted certain aspects of its lithium production operation — conducted at its Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee — in May 2013 due to the condition of the site’s 72-year old lithium production facility. Y-12 management concluded that usable lithium could run out without additional actions. HSNW >>
Venture Fund Wants to Help Startups Navigate Washington
A former senior investment officer under the Bush and Obama administrations, Suissa recently founded SineWave Ventures, an early-stage investment fund aiming to back commercial startups and help guide them through marketing to local, state and federal governments. NextGov >>
How Antimatter Could Stop Iran From Cheating On the Nuclear Deal
Spotting neutrinos, which move through matter without interacting with it, is very hard. You have to track these “ghost particles” indirectly, by detecting their collisions’ effects on other charged particles, and you need a lot of sensors. Defense One >>
Metal Foams Capable of Shielding X-Rays, Gamma Rays, Neutron Radiation
Research from North Carolina State University shows that lightweight composite metal foams are effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation, and are capable of absorbing the energy of high impact collisions. The finding means the metal foams hold promise for use in nuclear safety, space exploration and medical technology applications. Phys.org >>
A Comprehensive Timeline of the Iran Nuclear Deal
Does all this talk of centrifuges and snap-back sanctions have your head spinning? You’re not alone. The details of the Iran nuclear deal are a bit complex, and figuring out just what is supposed to happen when can be tricky, even for those who do this for a living. Brookings >>
71st Chem. Co. Returns From First Deployment
Soldiers from the 71st Chemical Company, 303rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, were greeted by families and friends during a redeployment ceremony at Wheeler Army Airfield. Last October, for the first time in its history, the 71st deployed to Kuwait, where it provided Central Command with expert chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training and support. Hawaii Army Weekly >>
Army Conducts Hazmat Tests at Sioux City Air Museum
Members of the 388th Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (CBRN) Company from Junction City, Wisconsin attended three separate assessments at the Mid-America Museum of Aviation and Transportation. Each of the mock Homeland Security missions were designed to evaluate the Company’s readiness to aid any city in case of a mass emergency. Siouxland Matters >>
ISIS Using Chemical Weapons Against Kurds, Say British Investigators
ISIS has manufactured and used weapons filled with toxic chemicals against Kurdish forces and civilians in Iraq and Syria, according to evidence gathered by British field investigators. Two British monitoring groups deployed teams to Iraq and Syria to investigate Kurdish claims of chemical use in three separate Isis attacks, two in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah against Kurdish People’s Protection Units forces and another near Iraq’s Mosul Dam against Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Newsweek >>
Lasers to Aid Fukushima Daiichi Fuel Removal
Laser technology for the removal of fuel debris from the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant could be developed through a joint research agreement signed between three Japanese organizations. World Nuclear News >>