Environmental Security of the Adriatic Coastal Sea Floor

The coastal sea floor is littered with many of man made objects and materials including a variety of ammunition. In addition, sediments in ports, harbors and marinas have increased concentrations of chemicals used as biocides in antifouling paints. In this report the locations in Adriatic Sea and whole Mediterranean for which there are evidences that are contaminated by different ammunition are presented. In order to be able to establish if an object on the sea floor contains some sort of threat material (explosives, chemical warfare) a system using neutron sensor installed within an unmanned underwater vessel has been developed and tested. When positioned above the object such a system can inspect the object for the presence of the threat material by using alpha particle tagged neutrons from the sealed tube d+t neutron generator. The same system can also be used to inspect ship hulls, either to detect potential anomalies attached to the hull, or to determine the nature of materials within hull, especially of sunken ships.