Novel Nuclear Radiation Protection Blanket

The proliferation of nuclear weapons has increased the possibility of their availability to terrorist organizations. This poses a serious threat to both military and civilian populations. An RDD attack could result in high casualties, if the explosion occurs in a battlefield, office building, indoor stadium, airport, or train station. The emotional upheaval of the public and the economic loss this could create because of the time involved to remediate the area following such an attack and assure safety and normalcy can be significant. Military, federal, and state agencies are thus constantly working to strengthen plans for responding to such a threat. Priority is being placed at protecting personnel from this deadly radiation so that they can limit the effects of this radiation source and perform decontamination operations. In Phase I, MMI developed new gamma-radiation-resistant fabrics that demonstrated, reduced weight – about 30% less that that compared to currently available lead or tungsten based products, excellent gamma radiation shielding breathable, flexible and non-toxic to the wearer, mechanically stable, wear and tear resistant and low-cost relative to current available product forms In Phase II, we plan to work on technical issues associated with the development and scale-up to production of the breathable and non-breathable radiation shielding materials so that they can be available in continuous rolls that are 36-60 inch wide for fabrication of both suits and blankets. Design and fabrication of full suits will be undertaken at a price of less than 500$ per suit and blankets will be fabricated as well.