US: pushing the envelope on explosive detection

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A new collaborative effort of explosives detection innovation

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is leading a collaboration of strategic public and private partners focused on the innovations in and education about explosives detection technologies.

The Los Alamos Collaboration for Explosives Detection (LACED) site serves as a virtual gateway to world-class expertise and capabilities designed to counter all types of explosives threats, predominantly through enhanced detection capabilities. The site went public online in January and is beginning to attract attention among specialty audiences.

Having long kept details of its explosives capabilities under wraps, a team of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) scientists is now rolling out a collaborative project to defeat explosives threats through enhanced detection technologies.

“We’re aiming to create a collaboration of strategic public and private partners focused on the innovations in and education about explosives detection technologies,” said LANL Director Charlie McMillan. “Through the Los Alamos Collaboration for Explosives Detection’s online portal and related collaborations, we can provide essential expertise in some extremely specialized fields,” he added.

An LANL release notes that the LACED site serves as a virtual gateway to world-class expertise and capabilities designed to counter all types of explosives threats, predominantly through enhanced detection capabilities.

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“We are addressing global security threats with a really clear, simple strategy,” said the manager.

According to HomeLand Security News Wire, the explosives detection collaborative is made up of 57 scientific experts, spanning 18 technical divisions at Los Alamos.

Detection, of course, is key to safety in this field. Los Alamos scientists and engineers have a long history of developing detection technologies for every conceivable type of explosive under a variety of scenarios.

Detection methods range from trace and signature characterization to bulk detection and new methods that address homemade or esoteric explosives. Advanced image analysis, exquisite surveillance technologies, remote detection and spectroscopy to find trace quantities of explosive vapors and residues, a whole range of high-tech tools is on hand, some new and some fundamentally enhanced from their original forms.

The new collaboration seeks to put these tools in the hands of the people who will need them the most. “Our emphasis with this project is on partnering with both industry and government to develop lifesaving technologies using the unique capabilities of the Laboratory,” said the director.