nuclear-news

At a meeting of the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry in December, Mitsuru Uesaka, president of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan and a professor at the University of Tokyo, said it was important to “enhance nuclear security” ahead of the games.

There have been numerous incidents overseas involving attempts to smuggle nuclear materials……

There are also fears that the radical militant group Islamic State might have made a “dirty bomb” capable of scattering radioactive materials. Unlike nuclear weapons, such devices can be made relatively cheaply without advanced skills.

To stop nuclear materials from entering Japan through airports, the agency developed a device to detect very small amounts of uranium concealed in luggage by irradiating luggage with a beam of neutrons. The result is available in less than a second.

Baggage screening at domestic airports usually uses X-rays, but an expert at the agency said conventional screening is not effective in detecting nuclear materials…..

As of the end of 2015, there were 454 confirmed incidents around the world involving unauthorized possession of nuclear materials and related criminal activities, 762 incidents involving reported theft or loss of such materials, and 1,622 incidents involving other unauthorized activities and events related to such materials, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency report. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/19/national/japan-taps-tech-foil-nuclear-terrorism-ahead-tokyo-olympics/#.WW8OgBWGPGg