News
Energy supply in Spiez won the ‘Watt d’Or’ award
Recently, the NBC Centre Spiez has been drawing a large portion of its energy from the new biomass centre in Spiez. This modern facility combines optimum use of energy with a highly efficient material: superfluous wood and organic waste are transformed into electricity, steam, heat and compost. With this ingenious recycling system the Oberland Energie company Ltd. helps the NBC Centre Spiez today to save hundreds of thousands of litres of heating oil and produces high quality compost at the same time. The biomass centre consists of a fermentation plant, a compost facility as well as a furnace for superfluous wood was planned and realised by Oberland Energie company Ltd. together with the Dr. Eicher+Pauli company Ltd. The biomass centre in Spiez won the ‘Watt d’Or’ award. This prize is awarded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE every year. With the ‘Watt d’Or’ the SFOE decorates persons and organisations that with their projects and initiatives are trailblazers for a sustainable future.
January 2011
BWC Review Conference in Geneva
The Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which happens once every five years, took place in Geneva between 5 and 22 December 2011. The BWC is the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. On 7 December, the conference heard from United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who outlined American ideas on additional transparency measures. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, presented his country’s stance on improving the effectiveness of the existing verification mechanism. Discussion focused on the lack of compliance monitoring instruments and on advances in bioscience and their implications for the BWC, particularly as regards dual use. Conference participants also discussed and analysed the latest findings from Dutch experiments on the bird flu virus. This work was also picked up by the Swiss media. Concerns were once again raised about the high dual-use potential of these findings, i.e. that the knowledge from legitimate research could be misused for nefarious purposes. Research institutes in Switzerland also have to contend with the dual-use dilemma. Since 2008, SPIEZ LABORATORY has periodically launched campaigns targeted specifically at the higher education sector to increase awareness of this problem.
At least in these matters some progress was achieved, although most of the negotiated results at the Seventh Review Conference can be qualified as modest at most, which was due to a multitude of reasons such as the current financial crisis hitting both the global markets and some States Parties alike. From now on, the developments of science and technology (S&T) will be reviewed on a yearly basis at the Meeting of Experts and will include discussions about the dual-use problem as well as address ways of dealing with it on a national level.
December 2011
The SL as part of the IAEA's ALMERA network
In September, SPIEZ LABORATORY was accepted as part of the ALMERA NETWORK (ALMERA – Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity). This network was established in 1995 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and comprises over 100 special laboratories worldwide that have the capability to analyse environmental samples quickly and reliably in the event of an intentional or unintentional release of radioactivity. The IAEA coordinates the activities of the network, it develops standardised sampling methods in partnership with ALMERA, and organises interlaboratory tests as well as qualification tests as a tool for external quality control.
The nuclear section of SPIEZ LABORATORY is proud of the nomination and prepared to accept considerable challenges: The Radioactivity Group must now also prepare its accredited section to reach and maintain a state of preparedness, so that, on receiving a sample at short notice at any time of the year, event-relevant results could be delivered to the network within 48-72 hours. The nomination of the laboratory is a valuable commendation of the quality of work carried out by the SL in this field.
September 2011
Measuring radioactivity in the field
In collaboration with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the Spiez Laboratory the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate practised measuring radioactivity in the field in the vicinity of Davos. 24 teams from nine European countries participated in the two-day exercise.
The FOPH is responsible for monitoring environmental radioactivity in Switzerland. It monitors radioactivity in various environmental sectors: in the air, in precipitation, in the ground, in grasses, but also in ground and drinking water. In order to ensure that in the event of an accident measurements are also coordinated beyond the national border, international measurement exercises are carried out at regular intervals, known as intercomparison tests in in-situ spectrometry. This year, Switzerland organised the intercomparison tests. The landscape of Davos was chosen because natural radioactivity is higher in the mountains than in flat country. From 20 to 22 September, some 100 experts from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland measured and subsequently evaluated existing radioisotopes (gamma radiation) on location. Intensive snowfall at the beginning of the week led to a change in the programme, but also to interesting challenges.
The NBC Centre in Spiez participated in the exercise with a mixed team from the NBC-KAMIR Centre of Competence and the Spiez Laboratory (as nuclear task force of the DDPS = A-EEVBS).
September 2011
SPIEZ LABORATORY supports the ICRC
SPIEZ LABORATORY, the Swiss national institute for NBC-protection, will serve as reference laboratory for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
In accordance with a framework agreement signed in June, SPIEZ LABORATORY will assist the ICRC in establishing technical and operational capabilities to deal with nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical incidents the organization may face. The analytical expertise of the laboratory is on standby for support on short notice and may involve the dispatchment of experts to assist the ICRC in the field.
This commitment adds to the already extensive international activities of the experts in Spiez including the operation of a designated laboratory in relation to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the conduct of missions for post-conflict and disaster management. SPIEZ LABORATORY has also been awarded for significant contributions to international capacity-building missions.
September 2011
ICA workshop 2011
SPIEZ LABORATORY and VERIFIN (Finnish Institute for the Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, supported by the Swiss Department for Foreign Affairs, organized a technical workshop on Incapacitating Chemical Agents (ICA) . The objective of the two day workshop (7.-8. September) was to bring together policy and technical experts to discuss technical questions that may influence policy discussion on ICA: What are potential ICA, what are their effects, how can they be produced and detected and how can their abuse be controlled? 42 international experts from different fields participated in the discussions. A final report on the proceedings will be made available to the CWC states parties and to all interested parties as a basis for discussion.
September 2011