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Kromek completes milestone delivery to counter ‘dirty bombs’

Kromek has successfully completed the delivery of an initial 10,000 personal radiation detectors (D3S) to the US DoD in support of the SIGMA programme

The Durham-based radiation detection technology company, which focuses on the medical, security and nuclear markets, was awarded a sole source contract in February this year.

SIGMA is a programme of DARPA, an agency of the US DoD, aimed at preventing attacks involving radiological “dirty bombs” and other nuclear threats based on a network of smartphone-sized mobile devices (Kromek’s D3S) that can detect the tiniest traces of radioactive materials.

Earlier in the year, DARPA conducted a successful demonstration of detectors at one of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s major transportation hubs. A large-scale test deployment is being planned for Washington, D.C., later this year.

Looking ahead, as announced by DARPA recently, it is planning to demonstrate SIGMA’s full city and regional-scale, continuous wide-area monitoring capability in 2017 and to transition the operational system to local, state and federal entities in 2018.

As announced earlier this week, based on the success of SIGMA,Kromek has also been awarded a contract by another US defence agency, DTRA, to produce a ruggedised handheld radiation detection device to be used for military applications in the US and globally.

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