San Francisco Marriott and Argent Hotels
San Francisco, California
April 1-5, 2002

Plenary Session

The tragic attacks of September 11 have brought a renewed sense of importance to the role of science and technology in national and international security. This year's plenary address will focus on the science and technology of counterterrorism.

Talk Presentation
Science and Technology and Counterterrorism

Jeff Wadsworth
Deputy Director for Science and Technology
University of California
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Wednesday, April 3, 6:00 p.m.
Metropolitan Ballroom, Argent Hotel

ABSTRACT

Major scientific and technological breakthroughs played a pivotal role in our ability to win the Cold War. The possibility of a different type of war, based on terrorism, has long been recognized. Indeed, countermeasures to address specific terrorist acts have been developed and are deployed, for example, at special sporting and political events. The current threat environment, however, has created an intense and compelling set of concerns; consequently, the challenge to the scientific community to develop new concepts and products on an accelerated timeframe is clear. Also, the spectrum of terrorist threats is broad. It includes the use of conventional, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. The imperatives for such advances have been amplified now that attacks are clearly possible within the U.S. borders. For example, advanced sensors and detectors that are able to monitor the movement and proliferation of potentially extremely toxic chemical, explosive, nuclear, and biological warfare agents at possible entry points such as U.S. ports are clearly needed.

The investments over the last decades in research and development efforts at the DOE national laboratories in chemical, biological, and nuclear nonproliferation have led to unique technologies and detection capabilities that have proved useful, yet many challenges remain. In particular, the development of accurate, rapid, robust, and low cost detection techniques that are easily deployable by first responders and law enforcement agencies and military personnel is urgently needed. This talk will highlight accomplishments in radiation detection, nuclear proliferation detection, next-generation biological detection, photonics and optics needed for global surveillance, information science to convert data into useful forms, and challenges in forensic attribution. Current research and development efforts, highlighting technical challenges especially to the materials science community, and future opportunities, will be presented.

[This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-Eng-48. ]


 
Jeff Wadsworth received a B. Met. (1972) and a PhD (1975) from England's Sheffield University, and was awarded the D. Met. from Sheffield University in 1990 for his published research After working at the Lockheed Missiles & Space Company in Palo Alto, California, he joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in 1992. Since 1996, Wadsworth has been the Deputy Director for Science and Technology at LLNL, where he is the senior executive responsible for the quality of the science and technology at that institution. He is also an adjunct professor for the University of California's Department of Applied Science, and a consulting professor in Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. Wadsworth, who has authored and co-authored over 250 papers on materials science and metallurgical topics, is also the author of the book Superplasticity in Metals and Ceramics. He holds four U.S. patents and is a Fellow of both the American Society for Metals (ASM), and Minerals, Metals, & Materials Science (TMS).

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