Scanners to stop radioactive materials at ports
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This is a worldwide problem – how to stop radioactive materials from being smuggled into a country for the purpose of committing acts of terror.
Israel has systems that do this job but the rest of the world is lagging behind.
The U.S. is aware of this problem and recently the Sandia National Laboratories team completed acceptance testing on an enormous mobile scanner — the Mobile Radiation Detection and Identification System (MRDIS) — which makes smuggling radioactive materials in containers more difficult.
According to HLS NewsWire a Sandia National Laboratories team completed acceptance testing on an enormous mobile scanner that makes smuggling radioactive materials more difficult, the eighth such unit that Sandia has deployed worldwide.
The Mobile Radiation Detection and Identification System (MRDIS) enables the scanning of containers which are in transit from one cargo ship to another. Typical radiation detectors are fixed at port entrances and exits, so they aren’t able to scan transshipped containers.
This makes transshipment containers an enticing option for those who might want to smuggle radioactive materials into a country for terrorist activities, such as making dirty bombs.
Two MRDIS prototypes were developed in 2006 and were field tested in Oman. Engineers analyzed how accurately and quickly MRDIS scanned cargo and worked with port operators to refine the process. Inspectors can move MRDIS to active quays, so containers can pass through the MRDIS on the way to another vessel in the port.
To date, eight MRDIS units have been deployed worldwide. The first set of four went to Panama in November 2012. The four in Oman arrived last summer and completed final acceptance testing in late March.
The ports in Oman and Panama are using three MRDIS as primary scanners, with a fourth MRDIS that has more sophisticated detection equipment serving as a secondary scanner.
MRDIS will begin scanning cargo at two international airports by next year.
