The ObSaS LINK will be officially launched at The 13th CBRNe Protection Symposium in Malmö, Sweden September 24-26 2019.

To see the ObSaS LINK in action, as well as detectors, both fixed and handheld, attached to the system stop by and see Observis on Booth 18A.

Bridging the Gap

The fast development and miniaturisation of wireless networking technologies has made the world mobile in only a couple of decades. The growing interconnectivity of devices and systems is affecting our everyday lives at a breathtaking speed since technologies delivering real-time data and networkability have become inexpensive and available to all.

Similarly, the concept of networking of all tactical assets has become the foundation of defense, security and first responder operational playbooks. Unfortunately, pursuing this capability has proven to be extremely costly since a large number of devices in service lack the networking features. For example, there exists a vast quantity of perfectly functioning detection devices with long remaining lifetime, only missing the bells and whistles required for networking. As a result, networking the assets often means replacing fully operational equipment with the latest versions at a rather high cost.

Enter ObSAS LINK

ObSAS LINK bridges the gap between modern and legacy technology. It connects all your handheld or portable chemical, biological and radiological detectors into one modular monitoring system. You are free to choose the best technology for your needs, be it your current proven detectors and analyzers or entirely new next generation of devices. ObSAS LINK can connect them as part of a full spectrum monitoring network.

The idea of ObSAS LINK is to enable network connectivity to virtually any device having physical data output capability. The ObSAS LINK adapter plugs into the detector’s communication port and connects to the user’s mobile phone wirelessly. A mobile application then displays the data the device is producing and sends it to ObSAS situational awareness system through wifi or whatever available mobile network (3G, 4G, 5G, satellite, etc.) using secured connection. 

Comprehensive Situational Awareness Solution

The ObSAS LINK is built on ObSAS platform which is the situational awareness software for the mission control. All the measurement data alongside with unit location is shared with the control center and distributed to other ObSAS LINK units on the field. This way every unit is fully aware of the situation in the field as well as the location of other units. The user can also drop down POI tags on the map from detections or suspicious targets. The POI tags are shared with the ObSAS control as well as other ObSAS LINK units. The entire mission history i.e. the status and location of the devices as well as all events and incidents are stored for later evaluation and reporting.

Modernizing your detectors

ObSAS LINK enables full modernisation of existing detection devices at a fraction of the cost compared to new detectors. The mobile app can communicate with several detectors simultaneously providing rich, visualized view to the data produced by your devices. The map interface of the mobile app displays the location and status of your team in real time improving drastically the situational awareness of the field personnel. If anyone from your team gets an alarm, the alarm information is shared instantly with the whole team. 

Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) First Military Medicine Conference this week, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh referred to bioterrorism as a 'contagious plague', and called upon the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) of the SCO countries to devise ways to effectively deal with the new challenges posed to soldiers in the battlefield.

Singh underlined the importance of building capabilities to deal with the menace of bioterrorism saying, "The armed forces and its medical services have to be at the forefront of combating this menace."

"The medical services of the armed forces are expected to pllay a vital role in identifying these challenges, defining the limits of human tolerance and suggesting strategies to mitigate the adverse health effects of such environments. The threat of nuclear, chemical and biological warfare further adds to the complexity of the situation.The medical professionals of the armed forces are probably uniquely equipped to deal with these deadly challenges." he said 

China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are members of the SCO. The conference is being attended by 27 international and 40 Indian delegates. This is the first military cooperation event hosted by India after becoming a full-time member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. 

The SCO is the largest regional organisation in the world in terms of geographical coverage and population, the  countries of the grouping cover 22 per cent of the world's land mass, 40 per cent population, and contribute to 20 per cent of the world's GDP. 

A man from Los Angeles pleaded guilty this week to Federal charges of attempting to obtain ricin for unlawful purposes, namely to poison his wife!

Over a two-month period late last year, Steve S. Kim attempted to obtain ricin from what he thought was an online seller, but in fact was an undercover FBI agent. During negotiations with the agent, Kim stated that the ricin was intended for an individual who weighed 110 pounds, and  subsequently he agreed to pay 320 Euros (approximately $350) in bitcoin for the poison. The FBI concealed a substance purporting to be ricin inside another product, along woth a GPS tracker, and the package was delivered to Kim’s work address. Kim took the parcel home, accessed the fake ricin, and was immediately placed under arrest. 

While violating the federal prohibition carries a maximum statute sentence of life in prison, the U.S. attorney’s office said prosecutors will recommend Kim be incarcerated for up to 87 months in return for his guilty plea.

On Monday the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran has installed more than 30 advanced centrifuges to accelerate uranium enrichment. 

A spokesperson for the IAEA has said that inspectors confirmed the new centrifuges, which include 30 advanced IR-6 and three IR-6s models.  Under the four-year-old atomic accord, Iran is supposed to be limited to operating 5,060 older IR-1 centrifuges. According to the IAEA spokesperson the new centrifuges had been, or were being installed, but had not yet been tested. 

Iran already has breached the stockpile and enrichment level limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal, while stressing it could quickly revert back to the terms of the accord if Europe delivers sanctions relief.

"As far as the other side does not implement their commitments, they should not expect Iran to fulfill its commitments,"  a spokesperson for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Behrouz Kamalvandi said, adding Iran had the ability to go beyond 20 percent enrichment of uranium.

According to reports emerging in the past week, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc (TEPCO), will have to dump vast quantities of radiaoctive waste water from the site into the Pacific Ocean. 

Tepco has reportedly been struggling to deal with the build up of groundwater at the site, which has become contaminated after coming into contact with water used to prevent the three damaged reactor cores from melting. More that 1 million tonnes of contaminated water has now accumlated at the site, with Tepco saying they will run out of storage by 2022.

Tepco has attempted to remove most of the radionuclides from the waste water, but at present the technology does not exist to rid it of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Coastal nuclear plants commonly dump water that contains tritium into the ocean. However, Tepco admitted last year that the water in the tanks still contains contaminants beside tritium.

Japan's Environment Minister, Yoshiaki Harada, has been quoted as sying “The only option will be to drain it into the sea and dilute it,” Harada told a news conference. “The whole of the government will discuss this, but I would like to offer my simple opinion.” A final government decision on disposal of the tainted water is pending a report from an expert panel.

The government of Japan has spent 34.5bn yen (£260m) to build a frozen underground wall to prevent groundwater reaching the three damaged reactor buildings. However, the wall has only succeeded in reducing the flow of groundwater from around 500 tonnes per day to around 100 tonnes per day.

(Reuters) - France’s EDF said on Tuesday it was investigating anomalies reported by engineering and construction firm Framatome in its manufacturing of some nuclear reactor components, which did not meet technical standards.

“Framatome has informed EDF of a deviation from technical standards governing the manufacture of nuclear-reactor components,” EDF said in a statement.

Components currently in use as well as some that had not yet been installed on any sites were affected, EDF said, adding that it had been investigating to ensure all reactors and components were fit for service.

The anomalies concern weldings on some steam generators.

“EDF informed the French nuclear regulatory authority of its initial investigations,” the power group said. “EDF will provide additional information as characterisation work progresses.” (Reporting by Benjamin Mallet, Writing by Sarah White, Editing by Richard Lough)

This week Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has been up in arms (no pun intended) about nuclear-armed states trying to forbid Turkey from owning their own nukes, this comes amid a row with the US over Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

On Wednesday Erdogan told told his ruling AK Party members “Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads, not one or two. But (they tell us) we can’t have them. This, I cannot accept," he contiuned to say “There is no developed nation in the world that doesn’t have them." In fact, many developed countries do not have nuclear weapons. 

Erdogan has hinted that he wanted the same protection for Turkey as Israel. “We have Israel nearby, as almost neighbors. They scare (other nations) by possessing these. No one can touch them.” He has not said whetherTurkey has plans to obtain their own aresenal. 

UPDATE: Case numbers have now reached over 800. 

Sweden is continuing to see an increase in the number of people affected by Tularemia this year.

At present there have been around 700 cases reported, and we are only just entering September. This is a much higher number than one of the previous high number years which saw 859 cases in a 12 month period in 2015. There has been a recent slowdown in cases reported, but there are still an unusually high number of people falling sick. 

Scientists at the  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have been conducting some interesting research, going down to the microscale to study diverse characteristics of nuclear fuel pellets. This is research that could improve nuclear forensic analysis by determining more effectively where the material came from and how it was made. The materials analyzed during the reseach included pellet fragments obtained as part of the Collaborative Materials Exercise (CMX-4) organized by the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group.

The research paper appears in the journal Analytical Chemistry

Reports have emerged from reporters in northern Russia who say they have measured high levels of radiation near two abandoned barges, which they say were towed ashore after the mysterious explosion at an Arkhangelsk region military testing range. 

Journalists in the Arkhangelsk region reported that the two barges had turned up on a local beach, where they have now laid for weeks, since the apparent missile accident, emitting radioactivity. Apparently, radiation measurements taken on August 31st, at a distance of 150m from the barges, measured from 70 to 186 microroentgen per hour. Tests conducted soon after the barges arrived on the beach peaked at 750 microroentgen per hour. Normal local background levels in the area are closer to 20 microroentgen per hour. Measurements closer to the barges have not been taken so it is not known how high the emmitances from the vessles themselves are. 

Villagers from the local area who were quoted by Radio Free Europe (RFE) said one of the barges was towed to Arkhangelsk beach on August 9, the day after the blast and the second barge arrived five days after. According to the video report released on TV29.RU both barges contain partially destroyed industrial equipment and have remained on the shore unguarded and without any explanation from authorities. One of the platforms, reported RFE, supports a damaged crane and a ladder for scuba divers, along with what appears to be a container for radioactive materials.

Rosatom has been approached for comment by journalists from TV29.RU and RFE but have refused to comment, instead saying the corporation “is not in a position to comment on classified defense contracts and military tests.”

Now that radiation levels have decreased the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) have announced plans to recommence the investigation into the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. 

The NRA have judged that radiation levels are now low enough for investigators to be able to access key pieces of equipment and retieve data for analysis into the cause of the incident. Under the restarted investigation, the NRA will look into the routes of radioactive substances that leaked from the plant, and whether equipment to cool the reactors was working appropriately. They will also investigate whether TEPCO gave appropriate consideration for measures to prevent severe accidents before the tsunami swamped the plant.

The NRA have stated they plan to compile a report on the results of the investigation during 2020, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the nuclear accident in March 2021.

It was announced today that the Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers have agreed implement the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution No 1540.

In resolution 1540 (2004), the UN Security Council decided that all States shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes. The resolution requires all States to adopt and enforce appropriate laws to this effect as well as other effective measures to prevent the proliferation of these weapons and their means of delivery to non-State actors, in particular for terrorist purposes.

Accordingly, it has been approved by the Cabinet of Minsters to prepare amendment bills in accordance with the rules and regulations, in order to implement Resolution 1540 and to prepare a National Control List within a year.