Sandia launches Chem/Bio Program web site

Sandia’s new Chem/Bio web page features information on detection technologies, facility protection programs, decontamination formulation, and other technologies and systems designed to prevent or mitigate the impact of attacks with chemical and biological agents. Full size image available through contact

LIVERMORE, Calif. - Addressing the need to provide information to the public on an important national security capability, Sandia National Laboratories has launched an external web site devoted to its Chemical/Biological Defense ("Chem/Bio") program. The site is located at www.ca.sandia.gov/chembio and serves as a prelude to a new, revamped page Sandia is developing that will focus on its wider range of homeland security activities.

The new Chem/Bio page offers technical information and background on:

• Technology projects at Sandia such as *ChemLab(tm) (or, "MicroChemLab"), a hand-held device which detects toxic chemical and biological agents, and SnifferSTAR(tm), a chemical sensor that mounts on a drone aircraft for remote surveillance of battlefield situations

• Facility protection, including Sandia's PROACT (Protective and Responsive Options for Airport Counter-Terrorism) program, which focuses on operational plans and capabilities designed to guard against chemical or biological terrorist threats

• Urban monitoring tools to develop and deploy sustainable environmental monitoring capabilities for metropolitan areas, such as Sandia's Weapons of Mass Destruction Decision Analysis Center (WMD-DAC), created to assist government officials and other decision-makers involved in emergency response

• Systems analysis studies, which examine modeling of facilities, assessment of technology readiness for insertion into deployed systems, simulations, and alternative architectures for both defensive and responsive systems

The new web page also features information on Sandia employment opportunities in engineering, biology, chemistry, computer science, and other applicable disciplines, as well as links to Sandia industry and government partners. Visitors to the site are also offered direct links to Sandia technical personnel who manage aspects of the Chem/Bio program.

Sandia National Laboratories' World Wide Web home page is located at http://www.sandia.gov. Sandia news releases, news tips, science photo gallery, and periodicals can be found at the News and Events button.