Clemson technology to aid weapons inspectors

New technology under development at Clemson University could help inspectors determine whether nations have violated international treaties by allowing work with chemicals that are used in banned weapons. Igor Luzinov, a materials science and engineering professor, calls the technology an “unattended off-line sensing system” and said it could be completed in two years. An extremely thin polymer foam is attached to a silicon chip measuring about one- inch-by-one inch. Luzinov said it would be placed in labs and collected about once a month. The work has been funded with about $1.5 million from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.