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Development of a Non-Nuclear Soil Density Gauge to Eliminate the Need for Nuclear Density Gauges

Award Information
Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Branch: N/A
Contract: NBCH060148
Agency Tracking Number: 611033
Amount: $149,996.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: H-SB06.1-010
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 2006
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
1594 State Street
Schenectady, NY 12304
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 George Goodman
 Senior R&D Engineer
 (518) 370-5558
 ggoodman@transtechsys.com
Business Contact
 Donald Colosimo
Title: General Manager
Phone: (518) 370-5558
Email: dcolosimo@transtechsys.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Congress and various government agencies have recognized the problem of orphaned radioactive sources worldwide. This SBIR seeks replacement for existing operating nuclear sources of radiation in non-medical applications such as the portable nuclear density gauge (NDG), which poses two very critical national issues. First, there are an estimated 25,000 NDG units in the United States that contain radioactive material suitable for a ¿dirty bomb¿ and are being used on highway and civil construction projects. These gauges are portable and under limited control. Each year, approximately 300 of these units are reported lost or stolen to the NRC with only 150 eventually recovered. Second, since there is a cost associated with the proper disposal of NDGs, there is an incentive for some users to ¿lose¿ the units resulting in the improper disposal of these devices posing environmental hazards and economic costs. TransTech Systems, Inc. is developing a promising alternative to NDGs for the measurement of the density and moisture of engineering soil. TransTech¿s alternative employs electromagnetic sensing to determine material properties. The new technology has been successfully applied to measurement of asphalt and is being extended to soil density and moisture measurement.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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