Dr. Darrell Taulbee with the Center for Applied Energy Research at the University of Kentucky demonstrated that the explosive potential of ammonium nitrate can be reduced or eliminated by coating ammonium nitrate prills with inexpensive and agriculturally attractive, coal combustion by-products (CCBs) that are produced at coal-fired electric power plants.
The task of assuring the security of our homeland involves protecting the citizens of the United States, the nation's critical infrastructure and key assets. This is necessary to sustain the nation's vitality against terrorism and other threats. This protection must originate at the community level. It requires discovering, developing and deploying new technology that will support first responders and key decision makers in local communities.
NIHS' mission is to discover, develop and deploy solutions that protect and preserve the critical infrastructure of the nation's communities.
NIHS aligns projects and research objectives with the needs and requirements of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The strategy is to manage a distributed research enterprise that effectively transitions research and development into solutions. NIHS works with DHS to determine technology needs at the community level. Then, teams are quickly assembled from multiple universities to develop solutions to the needs.
Through management of the Kentucky Critical Infrastructure Protections Program (KCI), the National Institute for Hometown Security (NIHS) provides an ongoing, integrated program dedicated to developing new technologies and devices. NIHS works through qualified academic institutions to accomplish the technological objectives.
