20.11.2006

Crane mounted radiation detector being tested

A new radiation detector aimed at improving the security of cargo containers is to undergo full scale testing in the Port of Oakland, California.

Terminal owners - Matson and Stevedoring Services of America - have agreed to install scanners on the hoisting mechanisms of the facility’s three cranes for a 60-day trial.

The VeriTainer device screens cargo for radiological materials as the container is loaded and unloaded, reducing the need to place detectors on busy docks and wharves where they can complicate harbour operations.

Currently it can take days, even weeks to check shipping containers arriving in the US for nuclear materials. Many foreign ports do not even screen containers for radiation creating a potential opening for terrorists.

If successful the detectors would give domestic and foreign ports the potential to scan virtually every container. It is estimated that there are 2,500 large port cranes worldwide.

"Our goal is to install detectors around the world, making every container crane a security checkpoint," said VeriTainer chief executive John Alioto. "The system screens for neutrons as well as gamma rays and gamma energy, a product of radioactive decay. Readings are transmitted from the crane via wireless technology to computer monitors used by inspectors."

The system's developers say that 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. More than 1 percent of cargo - including bananas, cat litter, ceramics and building materials - naturally emits radiation.

7 million 40-foot cargo containers arrive in the US every year from foreign ports. Almost half are unloaded in Los Angeles and Long Beach ports.