GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS Schedule of Intangibles (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012		Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	$ 9,823			$ 4,780
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	(150)		0
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	5,581
Amortization	(716)		(401)
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	28
Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(795)	[1]
Energy & Security Sonar Solutions Segment [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life	6
Energy & Security Sonar Solutions Segment [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	508			519
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	0
Amortization	0
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	(11)
Energy & Security Sonar Solutions Segment [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(328)	[1]		(274)	[1]
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0	[1]
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	0	[1]
Amortization	61	[1]
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	7	[1]
GridSense segment [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life	10
GridSense segment [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	2,789			2,748
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	0
Amortization	0
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	41
GridSense segment [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets				(543)	[1]
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0	[1]
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	0	[1]
Amortization	243	[1]
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	(9)	[1]
USSI segment [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life	20
USSI segment [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	2,715			2,565
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	(150)
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	0
Amortization	0
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0
USSI segment [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(342)	[1]		(235)	[1]
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0	[1]
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	0	[1]
Amortization	107	[1]
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0	[1]
Power Generation Monitoring segment [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life	13
Power Generation Monitoring segment [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	4,385			0
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	4,385
Amortization	0
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0
Power Generation Monitoring segment [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(221)	[1]		0	[1]
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0	[1]
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	0	[1]
Amortization	221	[1]
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0	[1]
All Other Segments [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life	9	[2]
All Other Segments [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	1,196	[2]		0	[2]
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0	[2]
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	1,196	[2]
Amortization	0	[2]
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0	[2]
All Other Segments [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(84)	[1],[2]		0	[1],[2]
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0	[1],[2]
Intangible Assets Acquired in Acquisition	0	[1],[2]
Amortization	84	[1],[2]
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	$ 0	[1],[2]

[1] * Accumulated amortization

[2] ** Results for the Cathodic Protection segment are included in "Other" in Segment Reporting (see Note 11).