The Assessment and Mitigation of Water-Side Attacks on Dams Project

Dr. Sebastian Bryson with the University of Kentucky is identifying existing concepts and developing new ones to reduce the risk from water-side attacks to dams and gated spillways. The approach is to identify or develop cost effective concepts for reducing risks to dams from water-borne and underwater threats. Concepts to be investigated include passive and less-than-lethal options so that the protection schemes are viable options for owners and operators. One mitigation measure that will be investigated is establishing appropriate buffer zones around critical facilities. Enforcement of the zone should use a combination of passive and less-than-lethal measures. The technology must incorporate appropriate delay alternatives and less-than-lethal options to deal with incoming water-side approaches whose intentions are not clearly established, but may not be hostile.  

The Challenge

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.

The Mission

NIHS' mission is to discover, develop and deploy solutions that protect and preserve the critical infrastructure of the nation's communities.

The Institute

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.

The Strategy

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.