An incredible substance detector has been developed in Zagreb for use in ports across the globe. The piece of innovation made in Croatia will certainly see the respected Zagreb institute gain even more of the scientific limelight.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of December, 2019, the Ruđer Bošković Institute (IRB) in Zagreb could soon become one of the global centres for the development and production of sophisticated security equipment for the detection of nuclear and other hasardous substances.
On Friday, the aforementioned institute presented a fascinating prototype of their substance detector for cargo control at seaports, the device would also aid in the discovery of special nuclear materials. This silicon carbide detector was developed continuously over three long years as part of the E-SiCure project under the NATO Peace and Security Science (SPS) Program.
According to the Institute, this is one of the largest projects within this program in Croatia, and besides them, partners from Slovenia, Portugal, Australia and Japan have also participated.
The detector which was made in Croatia was presented by the head of research Dr. Sc. Ivana Capan, who explained that the project was worth 396,500 euros in total, and as much as 31 percent of the funding went to the Croatian institute.
"Our goal was to develop specialised silicon carbide detectors with the help of theoretical, experimental and applied research,'' explained Dr. Capan. She stressed that this is not yet a commercial product but a first and major step towards the development of such a product that would be highly specific and globally accepted.
"There is a quality Helium-3 nuclear detector already in existence, but the problem is that following 9/11, the USA bought all the gas on the market and everyone else has to just deal with it. That's why things started moving towards an alternative and reliable detector, which is backed by NATO," Capan stated.
The importance of this technology has also been demonstrated by the fact that around 50,000 merchant ships are sailing the world 's seas and such a product would be of priceless value.
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