WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today highlighted the latest launch of a commercial product successfully developed and brought to market as a result of the Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (GIPP) program. NNSA’s GIPP program helps advance global nonproliferation efforts through collaborative research and development that applies the expertise of former weapons of mass destruction personnel to the development of civil-use technologies.
Today, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall joined officials from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for a ceremony at EDA Labs in Albuquerque, N.M., to officially start production of a new dental implant that uses stronger alloys that allow it to bond more quickly to human bone. The new implant is made with nanotitanium, a metal that is stronger than conventional alloys and integrates much more quickly with human bone. Created under a three-year partnership between LANL, several Russian institutes and New Mexico-based Manhattan Scientifics, the new implant material is more reliable and longer lasting and should result in faster post-surgery healing. It is the first dental implant made with nanotitanium that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“NNSA’s GIPP program prevents the spread of nuclear materials, technology and expertise by promoting cutting-edge science and technology built using the expertise of former weapons experts,” said NNSA Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Ken Baker. “The program generates peaceful and commercially viable projects while achieving a critical nonproliferation goal.”
To date, the GIPP program has engaged more than 17,000 experts (at least 60 percent with experience working with weapons of mass destruction) from more than 180 facilities in the former Soviet Union, Libya and Iraq. Since 1994, GIPP has partnered with more than 160 U.S. companies, multinational corporations and small innovative businesses to promote high-tech commercial research and development projects.
Under the program, partners provide financial or in-kind contributions equal in value to the funds NNSA commits to each project. Partnering with U.S. companies increases the likelihood that projects will have attainable and sustainable commercial goals.
Located in New Mexico, New York and Montreal, Manhattan Scientifics owns the exclusive, U.S. license to a family of patents which will enable the manufacture and marketing of super strong, ultra light-weight “nanostructured” metals that have been developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and in the former Soviet Union. More information about Manhattan Scientifics can be found at www.mhtx.com [1].
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Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science in the nation’s national security enterprise. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; reduces the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad.
