GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS Schedule of Intangibles (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	$ 3,936			$ 9,561
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	(4,801)
Payments to Acquire Intangible Assets	0		(150)
Amortization	(733)		(716)
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	(91)
Energy & Security Sonar Solutions Segment [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life	6 years
Energy & Security Sonar Solutions Segment [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	562			532
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	0
Amortization	0
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	30
Energy & Security Sonar Solutions Segment [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(451)			(364)
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	0
Amortization	(61)
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	(26)
GridSense segment [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life	10 years
GridSense segment [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	2,635			2,777
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	0
Amortization	0
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	(142)
GridSense segment [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(1,032)			(873)
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	0
Amortization	(206)
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	47
USSI segment [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life	20 years
USSI segment [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	2,715			2,715
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	0
Amortization	0
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0
USSI segment [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(493)			(380)
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	0
Amortization	(113)
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0
Power Generation Monitoring segment [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life
Power Generation Monitoring segment [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	561			4,385
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	(3,824)
Amortization	0
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0
Power Generation Monitoring segment [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(561)			(309)
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	0
Amortization	(252)
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0
All Other Segments [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Weighted-Average Useful Life
All Other Segments [Member] | Gross cost intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	219	[1]		1,196	[1]
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	977	[1]
Amortization	0	[1]
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	0	[1]
All Other Segments [Member] | Accumulated amortization intangibles [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Intangible assets	(219)	[1]		(118)	[1]
Impairment of Intangible Assets, Finite-lived	0	[1]
Amortization	(101)	[1]
Cumulative Translation Adjustment	$ 0	[1]

[1] ** Results for the Cathodic Protection segment are included in "Other" in Segment Reporting (see Note 10).