From a Distance

Officials at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency want to be able to spot nuclear materials from far away -- very far away.

In a July 10 request for information, agency officials said they are looking for technologies capable of detecting "special nuclear materials" at a distance of 5 kilometers or more.

The idea is to detect and locate "containerized" special nuclear material, either stationary or on the move, in "outdoor environments," the RFI reads.

"The overall time to detect need not necessarily occur in a short time frame; however the integration time for readout should be on the order of minutes (less than or equal to 10 min)," it adds.