Publication:Sea Talk Summer 2005/DSTO research to protect RAN from CBR hazards
By Meredith Schier*
As the perceived need for greater safeguards against chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) agents for Defence personnel and equipment grows, so has the range of advice being sought from experts at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO).
A new three-year DSTO task, managed by Dr Ray Dawson, is making a structured assessment of the possible impact of any CBR agents on the activities of the Navy. The task is sponsored by Director-General Navy Systems, through the office of Director Navy Platform Systems.
"The DSTO program is intended to provide an objective basis for assessment of the impact of CBR hazards on RAN operations,"; explained Dr Dawson. "For any hazard, we will identify the technological issues that need to be addressed for the RAN to operate effectively in a CBR environment."
"An issues paper has been written that defines the nature of the CBR hazard, and identifies some of the areas where CBR issues need to be considered," he said. "This paper will be used to help set the agenda for future research. It will also assist in developing some implementation priorities."Some aspects of CBR defence for the Navy are not found for other armed services, for example, detection of chemical warfare agents. The location of detectors on ships and their interaction with the marine and operational environment is critical.
"It is necessary to ensure that the air sampled by the detectors is representative of the ship's atmosphere, and not local eddies. Access to the detectors for maintenance is also important. Some work on this issue has already been done by DSTO's Paul Lancaster." Dr Dawson went on to explain that the impact of CBR agents on RAN capability would be addressed by an operations analysis approach. This would guide science and technology support in areas such as detection of chemical and biological agents, decontamination after exposure, the impact of chemicals on materials, and methods of minimising the danger from CBR agents to personnel.
- Assistant Manager, Defence Science Communications Melbourne
