Bioreporter Bacteria for the Detection of Unexploded Ordance

Conference · Mon Nov 08 04:00:00 EST 1999

OSTI ID:751425

Burlage, R S ^[1]; Hunt, M; DiBenedetto, J; Maston, M

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1. ORNL

Wide area detection of unexploded ordnance (UXO) is difficult to achieve. Most techniques for UXO detection depend on slow and laborious probing of small areas; this is time-consuming and expensive. We are developing a method for examining large (hundreds of acres) areas of land in a few hours. The technique utilizes a strain of bacteria that responds to trinitrotoluene (TNT) and which has been genetically engineered to fluoresce brightly in its presence. The bacteria are sprayed over the area under investigation and allowed to contact the soil. Fluorescence detection, either electronically or visually, is already faster than all other detection methods, and we are developing methods to examine the area from an airborne platform, thus making detection extremely efficient. This technology has been demonstrated at a field site in South Carolina, at which all five targets (ranging from three ounces to ten pounds of TNT) within a quarter acre tract were found. The bacteria are easy to grow and to transport, and might be used on a large variety of land surfaces and under a range of climactic conditions. Detection equipment ranges from a versatile laser-induced fluorescence to the relatively simple and inexpensive handheld method, which,is ideal for densely overgrown areas.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science; US Department of Defense
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-96OR22464
• OSTI ID: 751425
• Report Number(s): ORNL/CP-105297
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
bacterial markers
unexploded ordnance