Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel has overseen the development of a belt that protects against nuclear radiation.

The Israeli company Stemrad has developed a belt designed to block harmful gamma radiation.

The product, called “StemRad 360 Gamma,” was meant to protect the pelvic area, which contains most of the body’s renewable bone marrow.

“StemRad’s tested and patent-pending technology protects hematopoietic stem cells from the toxic effects of gamma radiation, providing affected individuals with an increased chance of survival in the event of inadvertent exposure to ionizing gamma radiation, from a nuclear catastrophe such as an explosion or reactor leak,” the company said.

The company said the belt can protect a wearer of a near-lethal dose of up to 1,000 rads. Executives said StemRad, which plans a marketing campaign in 2014, received orders from Israel, Japan and Russia.

Stemrad founder Oren Milstein stressed that the 15-kilogram belt does
not protect the entire body. He said the belt was not yet tested in
real-time, such as the 2011 massive leak from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear
plant.

But leading scientists have been persuaded to endorse the unspecified
technology. So far, Noble Prize laureates Roger D. Kornberg and Michael
Levitt have joined the company’s scientific advisory board.

  New radiation belt said to optimize survival in nuclear catastrophe, SemRad 360 Gamma