In an attempt to make OPCW’s job safer and more efficient, the Pentagon put out a call for a desktop device that can neutralize chemical and biological weapons without separating them from their containers.
The Pentagon’s idea revolves around using X-rays to radiate and destroy chemical and biological agents. While X-rays has been proven to destroy chemical agents like sarin gas, engineers have found it difficult to build a portable system.
However, a new x-ray technique developed by a former Brookhaven National Lab researcher Young Bae could be a game changer.
Bae’s x-ray generation technique uses “warm dense matter” (WDM) to produce x-rays. The temperatures associated with WDM hover around 11,000°C – temperatures most often observed in stars. In this state, the WDM atoms are smashed together so that the electron shells of two atoms fuse. Once the crushing force is released the two atoms separate releasing a cascade of x-ray energy.
Since discovering this technique, Bae has refined his method for creating x-rays into a tabletop apparatus. The Pentagon is looking to refine Bae’s work. With the help of Los Alamos National Labs, Bae’s system will be scaled up. Then over the next two years, the prototype will be tested on its ability to tune x-rays to destroy specific materials.
If the project is successful, the dangerous, time consuming and expensive work of the OPCW might be made easier and cheaper. With lower costs, chemical and biological stockpile holders like the US and Russia, might be more easily convinced to destroy their arsenals.
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