For successfully licensing its electronic radiological material tracker, Mobile Source Transit Security (MSTS), to private industry, a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory team was honored last week with a 2023 Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Excellence in Technology Transfer Award.
The FLC awards, which began in 1984, are an annual affair that recognizes federal labs and industry partners for technology transfer achievements. The FLC itself started in 1974 to boost U.S. productivity by promoting the movement of technologies from federal labs to private interests, in theory creating new jobs and new domestic markets along the way.
In the case of MSTS, licensing was given to Golden Security Services and Eagle Integrated Services. With the technology, these companies can track radioactive materials used in various industrial applications, charting missing sources that could pose health threats – or criminal threats, if stolen – to those who encounter them.
“It’s great to be recognized by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for the efforts the Laboratory has taken in terms of moving federally developed technology to the marketplace,” Kannan Krishnaswami, PNNL technology commercialization manager who led the MSTS marketplace introduction, said. “MSTS is another great example of PNNL’s leadership in developing innovative nuclear and radiological security solutions that are making the world a safer place.”
PNNL has won more honors in terms of technology transfers than any other national lab – 102 FLC awards in all.
The MSTS system was developed with the support of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Radiological Security and was made to integrate into industry partners’ operations.