Port cargo detector on test

The device screens cargo for radiological materials as it is loaded and unloaded, reducing the need to place detectors on busy docks and wharves where they can complicate harbour operations. If successful and widely applied, the detectors would give domestic and foreign ports the potential to scan virtually every container arriving in the US, VeriTainer executives say.

Today, many arriving shipping containers are checked for nuclear materials as they leave port terminals by truck, sometimes days, even weeks, after they are unloaded. At foreign ports, many containers aren8217;t screened for radiation before they leave for the US, creating a potential opening for terrorists to smuggle in weapons.

8220;The key to our technology is that we are in the workflow,8217;8217; VeriTainer Chief Executive John Alioto said. 8220;Our goal is to install detectors around the world, making every container crane a security checkpoint.8217;8217; Matson, which owns the terminal along with Stevedoring Services of America, has agreed to install scanners on one of the facility8217;s three cranes for a 60-day trial.

The VeriTainer system screens for neutrons as well as gamma rays and gamma energy, a product of radioactive decay. Company officials say the readings are transmitted from the crane via wireless technology to computer monitors used by inspectors. Unlike current scanners, the device can detect shielding used to conceal nuclear materials and determine if the emissions are a type associated with radiological weapons, which would reduce false alarms, developers say. More than 1 percent of cargo8212;including bananas, kitty litter, ceramics and building materials8212; naturally emits radiation.

8220;If the testing comes out positive and the technology is reliable, it will make a lot of headway in tactical planning and securing containers,8217;8217; said Noel Cunningham, a maritime security consultant and former chief of the Los Angeles Port Police. 8212;LAT-WP / Dan Weikel