Ukraine: Glass cobwebs in the fields, why fibre optics can be a problem for demining

A new anthropogenic landscape is forming along the front line, saturated with everything possible: debris, mines, unexploded ordnance, and toxic waste. Fiber optics from drones are also on this list. Millions of kilometers of thin cables litter Ukrainian lands and Read More …

Landmines pose growing threat to people and environment, UNDP warns

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Tuesday called for stronger political commitment to clear landmines and other explosive ordnance as a precondition for longer-term recover, warning that they are also causing lasting environmental damage. Speaking at the 29th International Read More …

Mine action clearing the path to climate resilience and lasting peace

In parts of Cambodia, land that once lay unused for years is slowly being reclaimed. For those living decades with the legacy of conflict, fields and forests were not simply unproductive–they were unsafe. Families avoided their own land, knowing that Read More …

IAEA: New Publication on Protecting People and Environment from Radiation

The IAEA has released a new safety guide to help countries design and run radiation monitoring programmes to ensure people and environment are protected from harmful effects of ionizing radiation. Radiation monitoring is essential to verify that radiation levels are Read More …

Senegal: Damaged Turkish tanker off Dakar coast was hit by explosions

A Turkish-owned oil tanker that was damaged near Senegal’s coast last week was hit by four external explosions but there were no injuries or pollution, its manager said on Monday. The vessel, Mersin, was at anchor near Dakar when the Read More …

Russia: Caspian Pipeline Consortium reports halts in Black Sea oil loading after new attack

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which handles most of Kazakhstan’s crude exports through Russia to the Black Sea, halted loading after one of its three moorings was damaged amid overnight Ukrainian attacks in the region. “As a result of a targeted Read More …

Sweden: Military sprayed PFAS directly into the countryside for decades

For decades, the Swedish Armed Forces shot PFAS-containing firefighting foam directly into the countryside near an air force base in the country’s south. And in a secret recording, the then-boss of that base in the town of Kallinge says he Read More …

Tracking the Invisible Threat: Persistent Explosive Residues in Raw and Drinking Water Bodies

This study provides a comprehensive nationwide assessment of explosive residues and their degradation products in French water resources and drinking water, including mainland and overseas territories. A total of 54 target compounds were selected based on historical usage, environmental persistence, Read More …

Atlantic Ocean: 200,000 toxic barrels threaten to poison millions

More than 200,000 barrels of radioactive waste have lain scattered across the Atlantic Ocean for nearly 50 years, a relic of an era when dumping nuclear materials at sea was considered safe. Between 1946 and 1990, European countries, including France Read More …

Italy: Suspect Is Arrested in Sabotage of Pipelines Between Russia and Germany

Italian police have arrested a Ukrainian national who German investigators believe coordinated the undersea bombing in 2022 of two gas pipelines that directly linked Russia to Germany, the German authorities said on Thursday. It was the first arrest in the Read More …

SERS nose arrays based on a signal differentiation approach for TNT gas detection

TNT, a well-known explosive, is highly toxic and difficult to decompose, making the detection of trace amounts of residual TNT in the environment a topic of significant research importance. Label-free surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been demonstrated to be capable Read More …

Italy prosecutors open terrorism probe into oil tanker blasts

Italian authorities opened a terrorism investigation into explosions last weekend that damaged an oil tanker off northern Italy, in the latest of four such incidents in the Mediterranean and Baltic seas in the past month, the chief prosecutor of the Read More …

Nord Stream Pipeline Attack In 2022 Led To Biggest Single Human-Caused Methane Leak Ever

The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022 not only heightened geopolitical tensions but also unleashed an unprecedented environmental event, releasing the largest recorded amount of methane from a single human-caused incident – 465,000 metric tons – into Read More …

Why is Switzerland offering cash prizes to retrieve munitions from lakes?

The Swiss Federal Department of Defence Procurement (Armasuisse) is offering 50,000 Swiss francs ($57,800) for the three best ideas on how to retrieve some 12,000 tonnes of old munitions from the country’s lakes, including Lake Thun, Lake Brienz and Lake Read More …

UK: Urgent tests under way on canal sodium cyanide spill

Public health bosses say they hope to start reducing restrictions “very quickly” on a 12-mile stretch of canals in the West Midlands following a toxic chemical spillage. Sodium cyanide, which can cause seizures, vomiting and loss of consciousness, was confirmed Read More …

British Columbia: Diving team practises eliminating underwater explosives off of Vancouver Island

Roughly a dozen Canadian Armed Forces members are diving into the waters off Metchosin, learning how to safely dispose of underwater explosives. The trainees at CFB Esquimalt are with Fleet Diving Unit Pacific, which eliminates underwater hazards, such as sea Read More …

In-situ comparison of high-order detonations and low-order deflagration methodologies for underwater UXO disposal

The unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the seabed off Northwest Europe poses a hazard to offshore developments such as windfarms. The traditional removal method is through high-order detonation of a donor explosive charge placed adjacent to the UXO, which poses a Read More …

Explosives remain in 5.6 million hectares in Việt Nam

Around 5.6 million hectares, equivalent to 17.71 per cent of Việt Nam’s total area, are still contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO) as of the end of 2023. Việt Nam is among the countries with the highest rates of UXO contamination Read More …

Denmark drops investigation into Nord Stream pipeline blasts

Denmark has dropped its investigation into the 2022 explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, becoming the second country to do so after Sweden closed a separate inquiry. The multibillion-dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines Read More …

Sweden Closes Investigation of Pipeline Blasts, but Stays Silent on Cause

After investigators delved into a series of undersea explosions that blew apart the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines linking Russia to Western Europe in fall 2022, intelligence agencies came to a general agreement: The evidence pointed toward pro-Ukraine forces, even Read More …