|
Chemical weapons detection devices get smaller
An expanded Web version of segments seen on CNN
January 1, 1997
Web posted at: 4:30 p.m. ESTFrom Correspondent Ann Kellan
LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico (CNN) -- International inspectors will soon be out among the world's stockpiles of weapons, looking for signs of chemical weapons. But the laptop computer and sensor they'll be carrying are a far cry from the bulky detection devices used during the Persian Gulf War.
The Chemical Weapons Convention -- a 1991 treaty that bans the purchase, development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons -- goes into effect in four months without the ratification of either the United States or Russia. And researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have made the inspection job easier.
The acoustic resonance device weighs just four and a half pounds. Magnets attach the chemical detector to a metal shell, and sound waves displayed on the computer monitor tell whether a solid or a liquid is inside.
The laboratory's Octavio Vela explains that the machine registers the type of resonance from inside a missile shell after it has been vibrated.
"From that we can develop a signature for that particular munition," he says.
Each chemical has a unique pattern and can be graphed, he explains. (26 sec. /288K AIFF or WAV sound)
The computer itself, Vela says, is off-the-shelf hardware. It operates similar to a graphics tablet used by computer artists -- the operator uses a pen to "record" the information. That method of input was chosen, Vela says, largely because the inspectors will often be wearing heavy gloves and other protective clothing on the job. (25 sec. /288K AIFF or WAV sound)
And the entire package fits into an over-the-shoulder carrying case.
Chemical Weapons
26 sec./1M QuickTime movie
The device is being developed at a time when international tensions over chemical weapons are high. Dozens of nations are secretly developing the deadly inexpensive weapons. And those clandestine efforts are hard to detect.
"Rogue nations are building large chemical complexes that can masquerade as fertilizer or pesticide plants," said Walter Kirchner of the Los Alamos lab.
Fear of the weapons has remained high ever since their first widespread use in the trenches of World War I.
The discovery and destruction of Iraq's stockpile of mustard and sarin gas in 1992 renewed fears that such weapons could be used in warfare, and their use in a terrorist attack against civilians is also a major concern.
Such an attack occurred in 1995, when deadly sarin gas filled the corridors of Tokyo's subway, killing 12 and injuring 6,000.
Terrorism, of course, is not the only fear -- much of the world's cache of chemical weapons is corroding, making accidental release of the chemicals a danger.
Even with the Chemical Weapons Convention, it will be tough to find hidden chemical stockpiles. But Los Alamos' new detector can help. Developement of the ARS system was funded by the Defense Special Weapons Agency.
Vivo streaming movie
Complete story as seen on CNN
Time: 2:31
Download a player
Vivo's technical FAQ
Check out what's coming up
on next week's Tomorrow/Today
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Defense Special Weapons Agency
- Los Alamos ARS
- The Role of Chemical Defense in Chemical Warfare
- Chemical Warfare Agents
- Chemical Warfare/Chemical & Biological Defense Information
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
Tell us what you think!
You said it...
© 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.