Jul 24, 2002 3 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Specially equipped trucks are scanning unopened shipping containers at U.S. borders for radiation emissions from so-called dirty bombs, Customs and corporate officials said Tuesday. They are part of a battery of new equipment being dispatched to border agents to help prevent terrorists from smuggling into the country a bomb that would spread radioactive waste over populated areas, U.S. Customs Service officials say.

“We are getting this equipment out as fast as we can,” said Dean Boyd, spokesman for the Customs Service.

Twenty-four such trucks are being used in the United States, its manufacturer said. American Science and Engineering Inc. displayed one of the $2 million vehicles in Washington in part to get Congress’ attention as lawmakers consider legislation to improve domestic security.

“There is a realization of how careless we’ve become in handling radioactive material,” said Ralph Sheridan, AS&E’s chief executive.

The trucks approach one end of a container, extend a giant arm, or boom, over and partway down the other side of the structure and begin the scan. The scanning truck then moves forward at six inches per second, as X-ray images of the container’s contents light up a video screen monitored by an analyst.

In Tuesday’s demonstration, the truck emitted a high-pitched alarm when it detected radiation emitted from a particle the size of an M&M.

The technology, Sheridan said, would not harm stowaways or the drivers of trucks pulling the containers. Further, he said, the procedure is faster than a physical inspection and does not slow down the flow of commerce.

Sheridan said the 24 trucks currently in use are at the national borders and the ports of Boston; Long Beach, Calif.; and West Palm Beach, Fla. Two U.S. military installations, which Sheridan would not identify, also use the trucks to scan arriving containers. They are “part of a much larger procurement” to be ordered by the government.

Another 24 trucks have been deployed at ports around the world, in Egypt, Britain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and other countries, Sheridan said.

Boyd said the equipment is just one of an array of new hardware the Customs Service is deploying. More than 9,000 radiation-detecting pagers will be issued to every customs inspector by January, he said.

In addition, inspectors will use handheld isotope identifiers, which when passed over a suspicious item can identify the type of radiation being emitted – for instance, whether it emanates from cesium or uranium.

Boyd said the Customs Service also uses X-ray vans to detect radiation.

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On the Net: U.S. Customs Service: http://www.customs.ustreas.gov