Idaho State University researchers aiming to detect nuclear bombs

October 22, 2008

Researchers at Idaho State University http://www.isu.edu/ are trying to devise an efficient method to search for a possible nuclear bomb in the 6 million cargo containers that enter the United States each year.

The unopened containers could be searched with a technique that would cause uranium and plutonium to emit neutrons that could then be detected by special sensors to alert authorities, said Dan Dale, chairman of the school's physics department.

"If a terrorist wanted to explode a nuclear weapon anywhere in the U.S., all they would have to do is buy a cargo container for a few thousands dollars and have it shipped to within a few feet of where they wanted it," Dale told the Idaho State Journal.

Full Story: http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/10/22/ap-state-id/d93v34080.txt