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Evaluating Testing, Costs, and Benefits of Advanced Spectroscopic Portals for Screening Cargo at Ports of Entry Interim Report (Abbreviated Version) (2009) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
Pages 8-13

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From page 8...
... To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall deploy next generation radiation detection technology." Cargo screening at ports of entry to the United States 2 is carried out by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
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From page 9...
... -- the fuel for a nuclear explosive -- is still generally thought to require the resources of a nation, but the material could be acquired by other means, such as theft or black market sales. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States and Russia agreed to work together to ensure that scientists with weapons-design and production expertise remain in Russia, and not sell their expert services to others.
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From page 10...
... EFFORTS TO INTERDICT NUCLEAR MATERIALS AT PORTS OF ENTRY The U.S. government -- both the administration and Congress -- concluded that it would be valuable to screen people, luggage, vehicles, and cargo entering the United States for nuclear and radiological material.
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From page 11...
... When an RPM used in primary screening detects radiation levels above a gamma-ray or neutron alarm threshold, the container is diverted to a lane dedicated to secondary screening. Because there is radioactive material in a small but significant fraction of ordinary cargo, radiation alarms in primary screening are quite common.
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From page 12...
... In secondary screening, the container is driven through another RPM and examined with a "spectroscopic" detector, which in principle is capable of identifying specific radioactive substances. The spectrometer currently in use is a handheld radioisotope identification device (RIID, see Figure 1.2)
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From page 13...
... While an alarm on the primary screening detectors sometimes stopped traffic for all of the lanes, typically it resulted in no net delay for the trucks that did not trigger the alarm. This is because the queue at the next inspection station usually had not yet cleared.
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Key Terms

  • primary screening
  • secondary screening
  • radioactive material
  • homeland security
  • cargo screening

  • cargo containers
  • nuclear material
  • border protection
  • special nuclear
  • land border

  • nuclear terrorism
  • radiation screening
  • screening cargo
  • nuclear detection
  • radiation detection

  • generation radiation
  • radiation detectors
  • domestic nuclear
  • ordinary cargo
  • cbp officers

  • detection technology
  • detection office
  • sea ports
  • containers entering
  • asp testing

  • advanced spectroscopic
  • gamma rays
  • black market
  • report concerns
  • counting cargo


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