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Nuclear Attribution
Nuclear attribution is the process of tracing the origin of nuclear material that has been used in a nuclear explosion. The problem is not necessarily a straightforward one, for it may be possible to obtain nuclear precursors through the black market, and therefore relatively anonymously. Attribution to the source is desirable due to the trend of nuclear proliferation. Nuclear capability has expanded from only a couple of states, to where a terrorist group could make a bomb with only partial state backing. The United States has demonstrated its interest in nuclear attribution by passing the Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act, which calls for the development of attribution capabilities. Nuclear Forensics A primary method used in nuclear attribution is nuclear forensics. The first step in this process is field work. Radiation levels can be quickly determined in the field using dosimetry. Reports from local survivors help provide visual evidence. The early data from the field, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Material
Nuclear material refers to the metals uranium, plutonium, and thorium, in any form, according to the IAEA. This is differentiated further into "source material", consisting of natural and depleted uranium, and "special fissionable material", consisting of enriched uranium ( U-235), uranium-233, and plutonium-239. Uranium ore concentrates are considered to be a "source material", although these are not subject to safeguards under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC), there are four different types of regulated nuclear materials: special nuclear material, source material, byproduct material and radium. Special nuclear materials have plutonium, uranium-233 or uranium with U233 or U235 that has a content found more than in nature. Source material is thorium or uranium that has a U235 content equal to or less than what is in nature. Byproduct material is radioactive material that is not source or special nuclear material. It can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isotopic Signature
An isotopic signature (also isotopic fingerprint) is a ratio of non-radiogenic 'stable isotopes', stable radiogenic isotopes, or unstable radioactive isotopes of particular elements in an investigated material. The ratios of isotopes in a sample material are measured by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry against an isotopic reference material. This process is called isotope analysis. Stable isotopes The atomic mass of different isotopes affect their chemical kinetic behavior, leading to natural isotope separation processes. Carbon isotopes For example, different sources and sinks of methane have different affinity for the 12C and 13C isotopes, which allows distinguishing between different sources by the 13C/12C ratio in methane in the air. In geochemistry, paleoclimatology and paleoceanography this ratio is called δ13C. The ratio is calculated with respect to Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB) standard: :\delta \ce_\mathrm = \left(\frac - 1\right) \cdot 1000 ‰ Similarly, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Warfare
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can produce destruction in a much shorter time and can have a long-lasting radiological result. A major nuclear exchange would likely have long-term effects, primarily from the fallout released, and could also lead to secondary effects, such as " nuclear winter", nuclear famine and societal collapse. A global thermonuclear war with Cold War-era stockpiles, or even with the current smaller stockpiles, may lead to various scenarios including the extinction of the human race. To date, the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict occurred in 1945 with the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 6, 1945, a uranium gun-type device (code name "Little Boy") was detonated over the Japanese city of Hir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counter-terrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism. Counterterrorism strategies are a government's motivation to use the instruments of national power to defeat terrorists, the organizations they maintain, and the networks they contain. If Definition of terrorism, definitions of terrorism are part of a broader insurgency, counterterrorism may employ counterinsurgency measures. The United States Armed Forces uses the term foreign internal defense for programs that support other countries' attempts to suppress insurgency, lawlessness, or subversion, or to reduce the conditions under which threats to national security may develop. History The first counter-terrorism body formed was the Special Irish Branch of the Metropolitan Police, later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Terrorism
Nuclear terrorism refers to any person or persons detonating a nuclear weapon as an act of terrorism (i.e., illegal or immoral use of violence for a political or religious cause). Some definitions of nuclear terrorism include the sabotage of a nuclear facility and/or the detonation of a radiological device, colloquially termed a dirty bomb, but consensus is lacking. In legal terms, nuclear terrorism is an offense committed if a person unlawfully and intentionally "uses in any way radioactive material … with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury; or with the intent to cause substantial damage to property or to the environment; or with the intent to compel a natural or legal person, an international organization or a State to do or refrain from doing an act", according to the 2005 United Nations International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. The possibility of terrorist organizations using nuclear weapons (including those of a small siz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Political Pressure
Pressure politics generally refers to political action which relies heavily on the use of mass media and mass communications to persuade politicians that the public wants or demands a particular action. However, it can also refer to intimidation, threats, and other covert techniques as well. Temperance movement The use of pressure, intimidation and manipulation has existed for millennia. However, its origins are most commonly associated with the temperance movement in the late 19th century and first two decades of the 20th century. Discovering the power of utilizing the mass media to exert pressure on politicians is usually attributed to Wayne Wheeler, the ''de facto'' leader of the Anti-Saloon League. Under his mentorship, a number of skilled practitioners of pressure politics emerged within the league (Odegard, 1928). One of the most accomplished of these was William E. Johnson, better known as "Pussyfoot" Johnson. One leader of the league testified that prior to its passage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirty Bomb
A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with radioactive material, serving primarily as an area denial device against civilians. It is not to be confused with a nuclear explosion, such as a fission bomb, which produces blast effects far in excess of what is achievable by the use of conventional explosives. Unlike the cloud of radiation from a typical fission bomb, a dirty bomb’s radiation can be dispersed only within a few hundred meters or a few miles of the explosion. Dirty bombs have never been used, only tested. They are designed to disperse radioactive material over a certain area. They act through the effects of radioactive contamination on the environment and related health effects of radiation poisoning in the affected populations. The containment and decontaminat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha decay ( ), beta decay ( ), and gamma decay ( ), all of which involve emitting one or more particles. The weak force is the mechanism that is responsible for beta decay, while the other two are governed by the electromagnetism and nuclear force. A fourth type of common decay is electron capture, in which an unstable nucleus captures an inner electron from one of the electron shells. The loss of that electron from the shell results in a cascade of electrons dropping down to that lower shell resulting in emission of discrete X-rays from the transitions. A common example is iodine-125 commonly used in medical settings. Radioactive decay is a stochastic (i.e. random) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and private physical structures such as roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, water supply, sewerage, sewers, electrical grids, and telecommunications (including Internet access, Internet connectivity and Broadband, broadband access). In general, infrastructure has been defined as "the physical components of interrelated systems providing Commodity, commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal quality of life, living conditions" and maintain the surrounding environment. Especially in light of the massive societal transformations needed to Climate change mitigation, mitigate and Climate change adaptation, adapt to climate change, contemporary infrastructure conversations frequently focus on sustainable development and gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spans formal techniques and practical considerations, including data modeling, efficient data representation and storage, query languages, security and privacy of sensitive data, and distributed computing issues, including supporting concurrent access and fault tolerance. A database management system (DBMS) is the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and analyze the data. The DBMS software additionally encompasses the core facilities provided to administer the database. The sum total of the database, the DBMS and the associated applications can be referred to as a database system. Often the term "database" is also used loosely to refer to any of the DBMS, the database system or an appli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satellite Imagery
Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell images by licensing them to governments and businesses such as Apple Maps and Google Maps. History The first images from space were taken on sub-orbital flights. The U.S-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946, took one image every 1.5 seconds. With an apogee of 65 miles (105 km), these photos were from five times higher than the previous record, the 13.7 miles (22 km) by the Explorer II balloon mission in 1935. The first satellite (orbital) photographs of Earth were made on August 14, 1959, by the U.S. Explorer 6. The first satellite photographs of the Moon might have been made on October 6, 1959, by the Soviet satellite Luna 3, on a mission to photograph the far side of the Moon. The Blue Marble photograph was taken from spac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enrichment Facilities
Enrichment may refer to: * Behavioral enrichment, the practice of providing animals under managed care with stimuli such as natural and artificial objects * Data enrichment, appending or enhancing data with relevant context from other sources, see data management * Enrichment factor, used to describe bodies of mineral ore * Enrichment in education: activities outside the formal curriculum, or an extra program for the most able students * Environmental enrichment, how the brain is affected by the stimulation of its information processing provided by its surroundings * The process of adding nutrients to cereals or grain, see food fortification * The process of adding sugar to grape must during winemaking in order to achieve a higher alcohol content of the wine, more commonly referred to as chaptalization * The process of enhancing breathing gas for scuba diving (e.g. in Enriched Air Nitrox). * Job enrichment, improving work processes and environments so they are more satisfying fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
