The Department of Homeland (DHS) Security’s Science and Technology (DHS S&T) Directorate has launched a modeling effort to protect states and local communities from terrorists armed with explosives.
S&T’s Chemical Security Analysis Center is working to create a tool that would allow users to model explosive threats and simulate possible impacts on public areas, DHS said Thursday.
The Homeland Explosive Consequence and Threat or HExCAT modeling tool is designed to simulate how explosive threats can affect specific public events.
“HExCAT is a holistic risk assessment that informs decision-makers like governors and mayors how to invest in security, plan for operations and mitigation and make important decisions for securing public spaces,” said David Reed, a chemist with CSAC’s chemical threat characterization team.
DHS S&T plans to launch HExCAT in the middle of next year. HExCAT will also be part of the Countermeasure Assessment and Planning Tool, a set of models designed to help government entities analyze chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
