NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
This study was supported by Contract No. TATF-96-17 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of the Treasury. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 98-87764
International Standard Book Number 0-309-06246-2
Additional copies of this report are available from:
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Box 285 Washington, DC 20055 800-624-6242 202-334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area) http://www.nap.edu
Copyright 1998 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
COMMITTEE ON SMOKELESS AND BLACK POWDER
Edwin P. Przybylowicz,
Eastman Kodak Company (retired),
Chair
Margaret A. Berger,
Brooklyn Law School
Alexander Beveridge,
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Leo R. Gizzi, Consultant,
Christiansburg, Virginia
Janice M. Hiroms, Consultant,
Crosby, Texas
Karl V. Jacob,
The Dow Chemical Company
Charles Parmenter,
Indiana University
Per-Anders Persson,
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Walter F. Rowe,
George Washington University
Roger L. Schneider,
Rho Sigma Associates, Inc.
Ronald L. Simmons,
Naval Surface Warfare Center, U.S. Navy
Judith Bannon Snow,
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Ronald R. Vandebeek,
Natural Resources Canada
Raymond S. Voorhees,
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Liaisons, Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
John J. Wise,
Mobil Research and Development Corporation (retired)
Barbara J. Garrison,
Pennsylvania State University
Project Staff
Elizabeth L. Grossman, Program Officer
Christopher K. Murphy, Program Officer
Greg Eyring, Consultant
David Grannis, Project Assistant
BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
Larry Overman,
University of California at Irvine,
Co-chair
John J. Wise,
Mobil Research and Development Corporation,
Co-chair
Hans C. Andersen,
Stanford University
John L. Anderson,
Carnegie Mellon University
David C. Bonner,
Westlake Group
Philip H. Brodsky,
Monsanto Company
Gregory R. Choppin,
Florida State University
Barbara J. Garrison,
Pennsylvania State University
Louis C. Glasgow,
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company
Joseph G. Gordon II,
IBM Almaden Research Center
Robert H. Grubbs,
California Institute of Technology
Keith E. Gubbins,
North Carolina State University
Victoria F. Haynes,
B.F. Goodrich Company
Jiri Jonas,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Gary E. McGraw,
Eastman Chemical Company
Gregory A. Petsko,
Brandeis University
Wayne H. Pitcher Jr.,
Genencor Corporation
Peter J. Stang,
University of Utah
Joan S. Valentine,
University of California at Los Angeles
William J. Ward III,
General Electric Company
John T. Yates, Jr.,
University of Pittsburgh
Staff
Douglas J. Raber, Director
Denis Cioffi, Program Officer
David Grannis, Project Assistant
Maria P. Jones, Senior Project Assistant
Ruth McDiarmid, Senior Program Officer
Christopher K. Murphy, Program Officer
Sybil A. Paige, Administrative Associate
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
Robert J. Hermann,
United Technologies Corporation,
Co-chair
W. Carl Lineberger,
University of Colorado,
Co-chair
Peter M. Banks,
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan
William Browder,
Princeton University
Lawrence D. Brown,
University of Pennsylvania
Ronald G. Douglas,
Texas A&M University
John E. Estes,
University of California at Santa Barbara
Martha Haynes,
Cornell University
L. Louis Hegedus,
Elf Atochem North America, Inc.
John E. Hopcroft,
Cornell University
Carol M. Jantzen,
Westinghouse Savannah River Company
Paul G. Kaminski,
Technovation, Inc.
Kenneth H. Keller,
University of Minnesota
Kenneth I. Kellermann,
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Margaret G. Kivelson,
University of California at Los Angeles
Daniel Kleppner,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John Kreick, Sanders,
a Lockheed Martin Company
Marsha I. Lester,
University of Pennsylvania
Nicholas P. Samios,
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Chang-Lin Tien,
University of California, Berkeley
Norman Metzger,
Executive Director
This page in the original is blank. |
Preface
The Committee on Smokeless and Black Powder (see Appendix A) was appointed by the National Research Council (NRC) in response to the mandate in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 to address two basic areas: (1) the feasibility of adding tracer elements to smokeless and black powder for the purpose of detection and (2) the feasibility of adding tracer elements to smokeless and black powder for the purpose of identification. (See Appendix B for a detailed statement of task.) As part of these tasks, the committee considered potential risks to human life or safety, utility for law enforcement, effects on the quality and performance of the powders for their intended lawful use, potential effects on the environment, cost-effectiveness, and susceptibility to countermeasures in the evaluation of markers and taggants.
The study focused on science and technology issues related to detecting bombs and identifying bombers, with the goal of framing the issues and furnishing a report that provides a clear description of the technical options that exist to limit the threat from bombings that use smokeless or black powder. This report presents the committee's conclusions and recommendations and provides advice to officials of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms on which to base recommendations to Congress.
In its initial meetings (Appendix C), the committee received a number of briefings that are summarized in Appendixes D and E. The committee is grateful to the individuals who provided technical information and insight during these briefings. This information helped to provide a sound foundation on which the committee was able to base its work. The committee solicited input from the scientific community and affected stakeholders on the issues delineated in the committee's charge and considered all such sources of information throughout the study.
This study was conducted under the auspices of the NRC's Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology and its staff. The committee acknowledges this support. The chair is particularly grateful to the members of this committee, who worked diligently and effectively on a demanding schedule to produce this report.
EDWIN P. PRZYBYLOWICZ, CHAIR
COMMITTEE ON SMOKELESS AND BLACK POWDER
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council's (NRC's) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the authors and the NRC in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The contents of the review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Randy Becker, Los Angeles Police Department,
Paul W. Cooper, Sandia National Laboratories (retired),
Paul B. Ferrara, Virginia Division of Forensic Science,
W. Carl Lineberger, University of Colorado,
Lyle O. Malotky, Federal Aviation Administration,
David W. McCall, AT&T Bell Laboratories (retired),
Neale A. Messina, Princeton Combustion Research Laboratories,
Roy R. Miller, United Technology,
Hyla S. Napadensky, Napadensky Energetics, Inc. (retired),
Harrison Shull, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (retired),
Peter J. Stang, University of Utah,
Frank H. Stillinger, Bell Laboratories, and
Patrick H. Windham, Windham Consulting.
Although the individuals listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, responsibility for the final content of this report rests solely with the authoring committee and the NRC.
This page in the original is blank. |