Manufacture Of Weapons Research Articles

New uranium(VI) complexes with macrocyclic schiff bases and their derivatives

An important environmental problem faced by modern radiochemistry is processing of radioactive waste (RW) accumulated both in the manufacture of nuclear weapons and during operation of nuclear power plants. The experience in practical RW processing shows that liquid extraction is the most effective technique for preconcentration, separation, and isolation of radioactive elements. Considerable progress has been achieved in this field in recent years both in Russia and abroad: effective extraction processes for treatment of liquid nitric acid RW with the use of effective chelating agents based on carbamoylmethyl phosphonates (Truex process), malonamides (Diamex process), and other compounds have been developed [1‐3]. However, many countries still store substantial amounts of alkaline RW, which is most difficult to process by extraction. Despite the available data on the extraction of uranium, actinides, lanthanides, and other elements from alkaline solutions [4, 5], the search for effective extractants stable to alkalis is of considerable interest. Several types of polydentate ligands stable in alkaline solutions that selectively bind actinides to form stable complexes are known, in particular, “extended porphyrins” (containing several pyrrole nuclei) [6], macrocyclic Schiff bases (based on pyrrole and polypyrrole derivatives) [7], and salicylidenealdimine derivatives (salens) [8‐11]. However, macrocyclic azomethine I and its reduced analogue II , which we synthesized [12, 13], may prove to be the most promising ligands for actinide preconcentration.

TOXICOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF RED-BACKED SALAMANDERS (PLETHODON CINEREUS) TO SUBCHRONIC SOIL EXPOSURES OF 2,4,6-TRINITROTOLUENE

Since World War I, trinitrotoluene (TNT) has been the most commonly used explosive. Environmental contamination associated with synthesis, manufacture of weapons, and use during training exercises has been extensive, with soil concentrations reaching 145,000 mg/kg. Some of these areas include habitats for amphibian species. Earlier studies have shown that salamanders dermally absorb TNT from soil. To ascertain what soil concentrations of TNT are toxic to amphibians, red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) were exposed to one of five concentrations of TNT in soil for 28 d and evaluated for indicators of toxicity. A total of 100 salamanders were randomly sorted by weight and assigned to target TNT concentrations in soil of either 3,000, 1,500, 750, 325, or 0 mg/kg dry weight. Food consisted of uncontaminated flightless Drosophila melanogaster. Survival was reduced in salamanders exposed to 1,500 and 3,000 mg/kg by 10 and 55%, respectively. Most mortality/morbidity occurred within the first week of exposure. Salamanders had a reduction in hemoglobin at 750 mg/kg or greater and a reduction in red blood cell concentration at 1,500 mg/kg or greater. Food consumption was affected in salamanders at 750 mg/kg or greater; a reduction in body mass and liver glycogen content also occurred at and above this concentration. Splenic congestion also was observed in salamanders from these groups. These data suggest that soil TNT concentrations of 373 +/- 41.0 mg/kg or greater result in reduced body mass, reduced feed intake, and hematological effects.

Remediation: Ground Zero for Uranium?

Vol. 115, No. 6 EnviornewsOpen AccessRemediation: Ground Zero for Uranium? Harvey Black Harvey Black Search for more papers by this author Published:1 June 2007https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.115-a298bAboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InReddit By harnessing bacteria that “breathe” uranium the way animals breathe oxygen, Florida State University microbiologist Joel Kostka is working to solidify liquid uranium waste under a 243-acre site adjacent to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Using bacteria to solidify the waste in situ may be the best alternative to dealing with the waste, says Kostka. Other solutions, such as excavating and disposing of it elsewhere, are “just moving the problem, and [don’t] get rid of the waste,” says Kostka.Kostka directs a team of microbiologists studying bioremediation as part of a five-year, $15-million U.S. DOE project led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The multi-disciplinary project includes geologists, geochemists, and microbiologists. and focuses on waste dumped underground over a 32-year span beginning in 1951. The waste is the result of the uranium enrichment process in weapons manufacturing. As much as 1 trillion liters of waste were dumped each year.Kostka, whose work is described in the 1 February 2007 issue of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, has isolated Geobacteraceae bacteria that turn soluble uranium found in groundwater into an insoluble form. This solidified form clings to geological formations underground and is thus immobilized. But questions remain, says Kostka: “Is the uranium stable? Is it going to remain in the ground? Are natural forces such as rainfall going to affect the stability of the uranium?” Kostka and his colleagues are currently working to answer these questions.Another aspect of Kostka’s work involves providing a carbon source—food—for the bacteria. The research described in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta evaluates two forms of carbon, ethanol and glucose. “Ethanol is easier to handle on a large scale [although] glucose has also been shown to be effective,” he says. These compounds are “fed” to the bacteria through injection wells.Microbiologist Colleen Hansel of Harvard University says, “Very little is known about these bacteria and the process that is involved in uranium immobilization in sediments and waters, so starting to understand the bacteria and genetically how these organisms do this process is very important. There is still so much we don’t know.” For example, it is important to learn how to best deliver nutrients to the bacteria. And it’s important to pinpoint which bacteria to foster—scientists want to stimulate the growth of those that will immobilize uranium and not others that might interfere with that process.Still, the idea of using bacteria to treat radioactive waste may have broad and important implications, says Kostka, since DOE facilities that once made nuclear weapons have vast contaminated underground areas. “I think immobilizing [uranium waste] by microbial techniques is a good strategy, because the necessary bacteria are present in the environment already,” says Andreas Kappler, a geomicrobiologist at the University of Tübingen, Germany.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 115, No. 6 June 2007Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published1 June 2007Published in print1 June 2007 Financial disclosuresPDF download License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. Note to readers with disabilities EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact [email protected]. Our staff will work with you to assess and meet your accessibility needs within 3 working days.

TASER International, Inc. -- Grappling with Growth

TASER International, Inc. is one of the world's leading less-lethal weapons manufacturers and distributors. The case begins with a dramatic moment as the President and CEO of TASER International become aware of a highly critical article in Barron's. The article questions the legitimacy of their high stock price and casts doubt on their continued ability to grow. The case presents the company's counterarguments to the critical Barron's article, and asks for alternatives for TASER's next move into the relatively untapped consumer market with a new consumer-oriented product, the TASER X26C. The case resulted from lengthy in-person, email, and phone interviews with TASER's President, Tom Smith. In addition, the company and its products have been well publicized in the national business press and in the local newspapers. Further, product details and other information on TASERs and other less-lethal weapons has been published in numerous police and military sources. Finally, TASER International's website has been a rich source of supplemental information to support the writing of the case.

In situ type study of hydrothermally prepared titanates and silicotitanates

One of the most vexing problems facing the nuclear industry and countries with nuclear weapons is the safe disposal of the generated nuclear waste. Huge quantities of nuclear waste arising from weapons manufacture are stored at the Hanford and Savannah River sites in the USA. The general method of remediation involves the removal of Cs-137, Sr-90 and actinides from a huge quantity of salts, principally NaNO3, organics and complexing agents. It has been found that a sodium silicotitanate is able to remove Cs+ selectively from the waste and certain sodium titanates remove Sr2+ and actinides. These compounds have been prepared by ex-situ hydrothermal methods. We have studied the in situ growth of these materials at the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory. In addition we will describe the mechanism of ion exchange in the titanosilicate as observed by in situ methods and how the combination of these techniques coupled with an intimate knowledge of the structure of the solids is helping to solve the remediation process. In general, the in situ method allows the investigator to follow the nucleation and crystal growth or phase transformations occurring in hydrothermal reactions.

Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire (review)

Reviewed by: Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire John P. Dunn Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire. By Gábor Ágoston. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-52184313-8. Maps. Photographs. Illustrations. Tables. Appendix. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xvii, 277. $75.00. Gábor Ágoston's newest book is a much-needed addition to English language works dealing with Ottoman military affairs. Based on sound archival and other primary sources, it looks at the employment, manufacture, and cost of Turkish gunpowder weapons in the 1400s to 1700s. From the castle smashing kale-kob down to the infantryman's tüfenk (musket), Ágoston starts with a history of Ottoman gunpowder technology, and how it was employed on the battlefield and in siege warfare. He gives equal time to analyses of weapons manufacture, the artisans who did the work, and how it all was financed. Ottoman leaders embraced the new weapons after encountering gunpowder technology during their invasions of the Balkans in the 1300s and 1400s. By 1430, significant resources were expended to develop an artillery train, one that was powerful enough to take on the heavily fortified city of Constantinople twenty-three years later. By the 1500s, a mix of field artillery and infantry weapons allowed Ottoman armies to blast away opponents in major battles like Çaldiran or Mohács. Ágoston sees this rapid evolution as a clear sign that Ottoman Sultans were "flexible" and pragmatic" in their approach to new technologies—a marked difference between themselves [End Page 218] and leaders of rival Middle Eastern powers like Mamluk Egypt or Safavid Iran. Reading Guns for the Sultan leaves one with the strong impression that Ottoman armies were as good, or maybe even better, than their European counterparts. Ágoston portrays a state self-sufficient in supplies of raw materials and workmen—vital ingredients needed to produce the "high-tech" weapons of the early modern world. He also discusses the Turks as disseminators of weapons technology in Central Asia, the Middle East, North-East Africa, and South-East Asia. Another important contribution is Ágoston's critique of the "Islamic conservatism" theory that portrays Muslim nations as technically impaired by religious dogma. He cogently argues that special interest groups within the armed forces, like the Yeni çeri (Janissary) or Sipahi Corps, combined with terrible economic problems, endemic through much of the 1600s and 1700s, were the real culprits. "Perceptions of honor and manliness," as he puts it, rather than Islamic conservatism, play a role in slowing the advance of Ottoman gunpowder technology during the 1600s. Combine these with regular revenue shortfalls, which made it difficult to hire and train artillerymen, or released musket-armed irregulars joining the growing ranks of bandit or separatist forces and the result was a significant decline in Ottoman military potential. Even then, Ottoman artillery and small arms were not tremendously behind European designs. Rather, Austrian and Russian armies had the advantage of "better drill, command and control, and bureaucratic administration." Guns for the Sultan is a good book. It contains extensive notes with frequent references to contrary points of view. Readers interested in military technology, siege warfare, and Balkan or Near Eastern history, should consider it for their libraries. John P. Dunn Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia Copyright © 2006 Society for Military History

Dead Slow: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Loitering in Battlespace

Unmanned (or Uninhabited) Aerial Vehicles are a key part of the American military's so-called revolution in military affairs (RMA) as practiced over Iraq. They are also part of the drive to shift agency away from humans and toward machines. This article considers the ways in which humans have, in calling on high technologies to distance them from what the military calls the “dull, the dirty, and the dangerous,” hoped to avoid responsibility for murder in wartime. In examining the claims of weapons manufacturers and their military customers, the article focuses on the concept of “systems of systems” and the various outcomes such battlespace imaginings might have for human beings. The article concludes that the RMA entertains a fantasy of human agency while technological systems call out to and conjure up other technological systems that are possessed not only of their own logics but also purposes that are hidden and disturbing.

Chemical and Biological Warfare: Should Rapid Detection Techniques Be Researched To Dissuade Usage? A Review

Chemistry, microbiology and genetic engineering have opened new doorways for the human race to propel itself to a better future. However, there is a darker side to Bioengineering. One element of this is the manufacture and proliferation of biological and chemical weapons. It is clearly in the interest of humankind to prevent the future use of such weapons of mass destruction. Though many agents have been proposed as potential biological and chemical weapons, the feasibility of these weapons is a matter of conjecture. The unpredictable and indiscriminate devastation caused by natural epidemics and hazardous chemicals during wartime without medical treatment should warn humans of the dangers of employing them as weapons. This study argues rapid detection techniques may dissuade future use. Many agents are far less toxic to treatment. A quick response time to most attacks will decrease the chances of serious health issues. The agent will be less effective and discourage the attacker from using the weapon. Fortunately, the Chemical and Biological Weapons Convention (CWCIBWC) allows defensive work in the area of biological and chemical weapons. Consequently, the review will discuss history, delivery/dispersal systems and specific agents of the warfare. The study presents current developments in biosensors for toxic materials of defense interest. It concludes with future directions for biosensor development.

The Military History of Ancient Israel

The Military History of Ancient Israel. By Richard A. Gabriel. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003. ISBN 0-275-97798-6. Maps. Illustrations. Tables. Notes. Selected bibliography. Index. Pp. xv, 334. $79.95. The publication of Richard Gabriel's latest book provides an excellent opportunity for addressing some thorny issues in the field of the military history of the Bible. Gabriel has written a military narrative for the conquest of ancient Israel by the successors of Moses with an eye to logistics, tactics, manpower, fortifications, command and control, weapons and weapons manufacture, troop leadership, and military strategy. He is correct in saying that this is the first such book to appear in English. Only Jacob Liver's book, The Military History of the Land of Israel in Biblical Times, is comparable, but that work has yet to be translated from the Hebrew. On the surface, Gabriel's book will be convincing to military historians, but only those motivated by religious belief or who are completely unaware of the last half century of scholarship on the subject. There is no more complex issue in Near Eastern studies than who the Israelites were, how they got into Canaan, and by what means they came to dominate the area. The great French biblical historian Roland de Vaux, in his book, The Early History of Israel (Philadelphia: Westminster [End Page 197] Press, 1978), described the emergence of Israel in Palestine as "the most difficult problem in the whole history of Israel" (p. 475) and he was not exaggerating. The easiest way to deal with this problem is to assume that the biblical texts present history accurately. This view has come to be known as the Conquest Model. The last half-century, however, has witnessed an intense dialogue—even polemic—on the topic as two other major reconstructions of the evidence have vied for center stage. As early as the 1920s, there was already a group of scholars in Germany who rejected the Conquest Model. Albrecht Alt and Martin Noth put forward what came to be known as the "Peaceful Infiltration Model" as an alternative to the largely American fundamentalist approach. The German school discarded the stories in Joshua entirely and concentrated on modern ethnographic studies of Middle Eastern pastoral nomads who wandered over long distances but eventually put down roots as peasants or townspeople. They compared this modern phenomenon to the biblical tradition of Israel's ancestors described in Genesis as wandering, tent-dwelling shepherds. In this view, the Israelites did not fight their way in through the Sinai, but rather were part of a natural process of settling down in one place that has been going on in this region for millennia. In this view, the Israelites did not need military reconnaissance; they were simply shepherds looking for better pasture. Finally, in 1962, George Mendenhall of the University of Michigan, a student of the famous biblical archaeologist and historian William Foxwell Albright, published an article which rejected both the "Conquest" and "Peaceful Infiltration" models ("The Biblical Conquest of Palestine," Biblical Archaeology 25, no. 1 [1962]: 66-87). Mendenhall believed that Israel did not win against its neighbors because of better military weapons or superior military organization. He believed that Israelite victory came as a result of a religiously motivated internal revolution. His theory was based solely on an analysis of internal social developments in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age. The conflict was thus not between the nomads and the settled population but between the rural population and the rulers of the city-states. Mendenhall believed that there was a peasant revolt, united in its worship of the God YHWH. The new religious movement placed its faith in a single God who established egalitarian laws of social conduct and who communicated directly to each member of the community. The hold of the kings over the community was therefore effectively broken by the spread of the new faith. The Israelite conquest was accomplished without invasion or immigration...

Diamond: A Struggle for Environmental Justice in Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor

Vol. 113, No. 1 AnnouncementsOpen AccessDiamond: A Struggle for Environmental Justice in Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor Dan VanderMeer Dan VanderMeer Search for more papers by this author Published:1 January 2005https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.113-a68aAboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail By Steve LernerCambridge, MA:MIT Press, 2004. 296 pp. ISBN: 0-262-12273-1, $27.95 clothAmazon.com lists over a dozen volumes on environmental justice, but only a few recent writings about disproportionately higher exposures to toxic and hazardous substances in low-income communities and people of color. Now there is another.Lerner and others writing on this topic make it clear that “environmental justice” is an oxymoron. As a rule, those who live and work where chemicals and radioactive materials are produced are poor. Likewise, wastes from homes, industries, and weapons manufacture are deposited in poor communities. Environmental injustice is perhaps a better descriptor.Accusations of environmental racism are not uncommon among those living in affected communities and their advocates. This was true in Diamond, a small, exclusively African-American neighborhood in the town of Norco, a few miles upriver from New Orleans. Norco was named for the New Orleans Refining Company built on plantation land. Over time, the oil business expanded to produce fuels, solvents, and other petroleum-based substances. Royal Dutch Shell and its successor, the Motiva-Equilon Alliance, have owned the business in recent decades. Lerner details this history, describing how complex social, racial, and economic factors combined to deny African-American residents many potential benefits of the growth of the oil industry. He lays out the conditions that led them to believe passionately that their health and well-being were at severe risk from exposures to pollution released from the refinery.A major explosion occurred in a unit in the Shell refinery early morning on 4 May 1988. Seven workers died and 48 people were injured, some of whom were community residents. Over 4,000 people were temporarily evacuated. Lerner suggests that this was a tipping point for the Diamond community. The event lurked in the background as data describing leaks of pollutants into the surrounding areas were reported by Shell in the 1990s in response to new federal rules. Leadership in the community evolved. Margie Richardson, a local teacher, formed Concerned Citizens of Norco. Environmental justice advocates gravitated to Norco to support the citizens. And eventually Shell agreed to buy out the neighborhood. The book provides a deep level of detail on these people and the process.The epic struggles in the 1970s and 1980s among residents, industry, and government to find a satisfactory resolution to community exposures to hazardous substances all seem to have a curiously common set of characters: the key local community activist(s) who emerge(s) from obscurity to a position of leadership; a core of nonresident advocates who bolster these community leaders; a representative who speaks for the industry but cannot commit the fiscal resources for putting things right; local, state, and federal environmental and health agency representatives who can help define the problem but are powerless to change the fundamental conditions in the community; expert consultants retained by the community, government, and industry—few of whom agree and none of whom are trusted by a majority; attorneys representing citizens or industry; and, finally, the media reporting on key events and observers (usually academics) who write papers and books about the process.These were all present in Diamond. Lerner identifies with citizens and advocates who demanded relocation. Unlike white residents of Norco, the African-American community perceived unacceptably high risks and insignificant benefits. Although they lived with the same environmental contaminants, white residents believed that the oil economy strengthened their economic, educational, and social infrastructure. They did not support their African-American neighbors’ demands to have their houses purchased by the oil industry, and they did not relocate. Lerner notes that the unity of purpose in the Diamond neighborhood eventually resulted in a buyout and exodus from a foul and potentially dangerous toxic chemical environment. This success also disbanded an African-American community with roots spanning three centuries and ended the de facto segregation of Norco.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 113, No. 1 January 2005Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published1 January 2005Published in print1 January 2005 Financial disclosures License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. Note to readers with disabilities EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact [email protected]. Our staff will work with you to assess and meet your accessibility needs within 3 working days.

MICRO-DISARMAMENT IN WEST AFRICA

This article explores the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the West African sub-region and efforts by the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deal with the problem through the ECOWAS Declaration of a Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa. The paper analyses the degree of compliance with the Moratorium by four ECOWAS member states, namely, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Mali.

Ammianus Marcellinus and bishop Eusebius of Emesa

Ammianus Marcellinus preserves the most detailed account of the alleged misdeeds of Gallus Caesar at Antioch which led to his removal and execution by the emperor Constantius II (337-61) in late 354.1 Among other things, Gallus incited the troops against the praetorian prefect Domitianus and the quaestor Montius because he believed that they were plotting against him. As he was being torn apart by the enraged troops, Montius cried out in complaint against a certain Epigonus and Eusebius, but without specifying their profession or rank. This resulted in the immediate arrest of a philosopher from Cilicia by the name of Epigonus and an orator from Emesa by the name of Eusebius, surnamed Pittacas. Both were severely tortured, and although Epigonus quickly confessed to his involvement in a plot against Gallus, Eusebius stoutly maintained his innocence of all such charges. Indeed, Ammianus emphasizes the innocence of both accused, and maintains that Montius had actually referred to two tribunes in charge of weapons manufacture who had promised weapons in case of a revolt. Nevertheless, Gallus had both philosopher and orator executed. Unfortunately, no other source tells us anything more about Eusebius Pittacas. Nonetheless, he has sometimes been identified with a sophist by the name of Eusebius the Arabian who was a rival of Ulpianus.2 The latter taught during the reign of Constantine I (306-37), first at Emesa, then at Antioch where he taught the Christian sophist Prohaeresius (c.276-368).3 Yet this

Shifting priorities at the Department of Energy's bomb factories: protecting human and ecological health.

More than 50 years of research, development, manufacture, and testing of nuclear weapons at Department of Energy (DOE) sites has left a legacy of on-site contamination that often spreads to surrounding areas. Despite substantial cleanup budgets in the last decade, the DOE's top-to-bottom review team concluded that relatively little actual cleanup has been accomplished, although milestones have been met and work packages completed. Rather than solely use regulatory constraints to direct cleanup, many people have suggested that human and ecological health should guide long-term stewardship goals of DOE-managed sites. The main questions are how ecological and human health considerations should be applied in deciding the extent of cleanup that contaminated sites should receive and how near-term and longer run considerations of costs and benefits should be balanced as cleanup decisions are made. One effort to protect ecological integrity is the designation of the largest sites as National Environmental Research Parks (NERPs). Recently, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) suggested isolating and conserving DOE sites as a policy priority because of their rich ecological diversity. A more effective long-term stewardship approach for former nuclear weapons complex sites may emerge if the guiding principles are to (1) reduce risks to human and ecological health, (2) protect cultural traditions, and (3) lower short- and long-term cleanup and remediation costs. A "net benefits" perspective that takes both near- and longer-term costs and consequences into account can help illuminate the trade-offs between expensive cleanup in the near term and the need to assure long-term protection of human health, cultural values, and high levels of biodiversity and ecological integrity that currently exist at many DOE sites.

Concept of Erbium Doped Uranium Oxide Fuel Cycle in Light Water Reactors

This paper is aimed at the development of a fuel cycle concept for host countries with a lack of nuclear infrastructure. To minimize plutonium proliferation concern the adoption of long-life core with no fuel radiochemical treatment on site is suggested. Current investigation relies upon light water reactor technology and plutonium-free fresh fuel. Erbium doped to uranium oxide (enrichment 19.8%) fuel is selected as the reference. Such a high enrichment is selected in attempt to approach the longest irradiation time in one batch mode. In addition to that, uranium enriched up to 20% does not consider as a nuclear material for direct use in weapon manufacture. A sequence of two irradiation cycles for the same fuel rods in two different light water reactors is the key feature of the advocated approach. It is found that the synergism of PWR and pressure tube graphite reactor offers fuel burnup up to 140GWd/tHM without compromising safety characteristics. Being as large as 8% in the final isotopic vector, fraction of 238Pu serves as an inherent protective measure against plutonium proliferation.

Handguns and Ammunitions Indicators Extracted from the GSR Analysis

The computer automated scanning electron microscope. X-ray microanalysis of Firearms Discharge Residue (FDR) can reveal substantial information about the circumstances of their generation beyond the presence of characteristic gunshot residue (GSR). Indicators of the type of weapon and ammunition used can he obtained from the distribution of GSR particle shapes and from the multi-element analysis of the FDR sample. This is demonstrated for a large database of GSR samples from nine different handguns and over 60 different ammunitions. An example classification scheme is presented for the supporting particles generally found present in FDR. When particle type area concentration ratios are normalized to the iron (Fe) particle type, results show it is possible to distinguish much about the metal used in the weapon manufacture, whether it was of large or small caliber, whether the bullets were jacketed or plated, and whether the cartridge cases were of aluminum, brass, or nickel-plated brass. Standardization of such analytical schemes would be advantageous.

Growth opportunities and corporate debt policy: the case of the U.S. defense industry

The U.S. defense industry provides a natural experiment for examining how changes in growth opportunities affect the level and structure of corporate debt. The growth opportunities of defense firms, compared with other firms, increased substantially during the Reagan defense buildup of the early 1980s but then declined significantly with the end of the cold war and associated defense budget cuts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. We examine how the level and structure of corporate debt changed for a sample of 61 defense firms and a benchmark sample of 61 manufacturing firms during 1980–95, a period spanning the changes in growth opportunities. The debt levels of weapons manufacturers, which were most affected by the changes in growth opportunities, increased significantly as their growth opportunities declined. In addition, these firms lengthened the maturity structure of their debt, decreased the ratio of private to public debt, and decreased the use of senior debt as their growth opportunities declined. The results complement other studies that have found cross-sectional relations between proxies for growth opportunities and leverage variables and validate the prominent role played by growth opportunities in the theory of corporate finance.

Consensus Shattered: Japanese Paradigm Shift and Moral Panic in the Post-Aum Era

Any discussion of the factors shaping attitudes to, and patterns of conflict over, new religious movements (NRMs) in Japan today has to be conducted in the light of the activities of Aum Shinrikyo. For Japanese society, the “Aum affair” raised the spectre of a legally registered religious organization enjoying freedom of worship, legal protection, and religious tax exemptions and yet abusing these privileges to finance the manufacture of chemical weapons and commit heinous crimes. Inevitably, the question of Aum’s position and continued existence under Japanese law became a matter of public and political debate. On the wider level, too, the Aum affair raised basic questions about the relationship between religion, society, and state in a modern, liberal society and about the extent to which such societies should offer protection to, and tolerate the existence of, religious movements that are inimical to normative social values. The affair also raised questions about the tax benefits given to religious movements and about the ways in which religious movements acquire their wealth. Such issues gave a powerful boost to the development of an anticult movement in Japan and gave added impetus to an aggressive mass media keen to expose “deviant” religious groups. The Aum affair also damaged the ability of academics in the field to offer balanced judgments on new movements and virtually silenced academic researchers in the debates that arose during the post-Aum moral panic that gripped Japan.

Současný stav a perspektivy chemického odzbrojení

The commitment of the contracting parties to liquidate chemical weapons and all premises used for their manufacture by the year 2007 is the fundamental pillar of the Agreement un Banning the Development, Manufacture, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and their destruction (hereafter only Agreement). This is the first multilateral disarmament agreement which bans an entire category of weapons of mass destruction while at the same time it stipulates measures to control the way this commitment is being respected. The Agreement is universal since it bans not only the actual utilization or threat to use chemical weapons but also their development, manufacture, acquisition and stockpiling. Under the Agreement, the direct or indirect proliferation of chemical weapons is illegal, as is the utilization of chemical weapons including the possibility of a retaliatory strike, military preparations with the aim of using chemical weapons as well as assistance, support or inciting any type of banned activity.This year, the Agreement will have been in force for three years which is the time limit set for the liquidation of 1% of all stocks of the chemical weapons in the possession of each contracting state. The time limit for the liquidation of alt chemical weapons is ten years from the time the Agreement came in to force.The authors of this essay deal in detail with the present state of the liquidation of the chemical arsenal of the United States and the Russian Federation. They arrive at the conclusion that at present the US is the only state with extensive practical experience with the safe liquidation of chemical weapons, and this without an adverse influence on the environment. Yet it is not possible to say whether the US will be capable of fulfilling the final deadline of the liquidation of chemical weapons. The situation in Russia, on the contrary, is far more complicated since already now the programme of liquidation is at least two years behind schedule. And in view of the shortage of its own financial resources, it is evident that Russia will not be capable of liquidating its chemical weapons stocks within the required time limit without more extensive international assistance.In addition, the authors turn their attention in the essay to a number of other issues, directly connected with the liquidation of chemical weapons, such as the demands of the liquidation of chemical weapons, stipulated by the Agreement, or former methods of the liquidation of chemical weapons and their influence 0n the environment.

Ovlivňuje světová zbrojní výroba politický vývoj nebo naopak?

One of the most ancient human professions (the defence of life and hunting) has gradually changed into a technically most demanding engineering industry, especially in the 20th century; this also places great demands on the standard of production and is economically most lucrative: it is arms production. This industry influences a number of other civilian professions which gradually take over the most progressive know-how and technology from this industry.The volume and types of the manufacture of weapons are as a rule determined by the consumer; this is done by purely political bodies – parliaments and governments – which approve military concepts and resources for military budgets and, consequently, also the finances earmarked for the purchase and development of new arms and weapons systems. That is why the arms manufacturers at times lobby politicians and the pertinent political institution in support of higher funds for the purchase of weapons, or else they engage in various provocations to incite major or minor conflicts. Such conflicts are then impatiently solved by military means which adds to a further increase in arms production and the development of constantly more destructive weapons that can be tested in such conflicts.The United Nations Organization came into being in 1945 for the purpose of preserving and consolidating peace and security and promote cooperation among states; it contributed to a large extent to limiting the threatening number of conflicts in the world, and thereby to restraining arming. Unfortunately, the Cold War begun to expand simultaneously, accompanied by increasing arms production. The author documents this by a multitude of revealing facts and figures including data on the globalization and merger of arms concerns.The author further deals with arms exports by the major manufacturers. He notes in this connection that the most advanced countries generally do not export their latest military technology. The biggest importer is now Saudi Arabia and other Near East countries as well as countries in Asia. The author supplements these facts by a prognosis up to the year 2015.The author tries to find an answer to the question: Whom does this serve? Who benefits by a conflict of war? Quoting the recent example of the Balkans, he demonstrates that war can benefit exclusively arms and ammunition manufacturers to whom it means spiraling profits. In the context of the wars in the Balkans, the author also discusses such questions as the creation of a new military concept by Russia, China, and the North Atlantic Alliance in the 21st century as well as issues related to demands for newly developed weapons.

Hard choices: moral dilemmas in humanitarian intervention

Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Introduction Chapter 3 From War and Peace to Violence and Intervention: Permanent Moral Dilemmas under Changing Political and Technological Conditions Chapter 4 Military Intervention and National Sovereignty: Recasting the Relationship Chapter 5 Peacekeeping, Military Intervention, and National Sovereignty in Internal Armed Conflict Chapter 6 The End of Innocence: Rwanda 1994 Chapter 7 Mixed Intervention in Somalia and the Great Lakes: Culture, Neutrality, and the Military Chapter 8 Military-Humanitarian Ambiguities in Haiti Chapter 9 Weaving a New Society in Cambodia: The Story of Monath Chapter 10 You Save My Life Today, But for What Tomorrow? Some Moral Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid Chapter 11 Hard Choices after Genocide: Human Rights and Political Failures in Rwanda Chapter 12 Refugee Camps, Population Transfers, and NGOs Chapter 13 Bringing War Criminals to Justice during an Ongoing War Chapter 14 Moral Reconstruction in the Wake of Human Rights Violations and War Crimes Chapter 15 The Morality of Sanctions Chapter 16 Moving in Vicious Circles: The Moral Dilemmas of Arms Transfers and Weapons Manufacture Chapter 17 A Future, If One Is Still Alive: The Challenge of the HIV Epidemic Chapter 18 The Stories We Tell: Television and Humanitarian Aid Chapter 19 Index