* [2006-03-28] U.S. Looks to Put Inspectors in Bahamas
Ted Bridis, Guardian
* [2006-03-23] U.S. Hiring Hong Kong Co. to Scan Nukes
Ted Bridis and John Solomon, Guardian
January 18, 2006
August 13, 2003
Rotterdam port to be outfitted with radiation detectors, in effort to stop 'dirty bomb' shipments
Security officials have long worried about terrorists using container shipments to hide nuclear material that could be used to make a dirty bomb, which uses conventional explosives to spread radiation, or conceal an actual nuclear device. The Bush administration has maintained that it would be virtually impossible to keep such devices from getting into the United States, short of bringing international commerce to a halt, unless there are multiple levels of security, beginning in major foreign ports. It is better to intercept such devices before they get to U.S. borders, officials argue.
In The Neatherlands, the Rotterdam port, a vast maze of docks and container vessels, handles more than 300 million metric tons of cargo annually. It is Europe's busiest seaport. Thousands of commercial ships pass through the port, many of them hauling cargo from the Middle East and other regions of the world destined for the United States.
The USA has agreed to provide a sophisticated bunch of fixed and portable radiation detection equipment for the Rotterdam port, and to provide training in its use. Other foreign ports are expected to be similarly outfitted by the USA. For security reasons, officials declined to say how many of the detection devices the port will have, nor specifically where they will be used.
[Source: The Associated Press, "Nuclear detectors for major port", CNN, August 13, 2003 0755 GMT]
August 11, 2003
If a nuclear weapon enters a US harbor on a container ship, it's too late to discover it's presence, notes Peter Verga, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense. Mr. Verga discussed the issue in a panel of seven senior military policymakers at the Naval-Industry R&D Partnership Conference in Washington last week. Here's a synopsis of his comments:
Technology is needed to address the threat posed by containerized cargo in the global free-trade economy. Somehow, technology must be developed so any ship may be interdicted well offshore, far from the U.S. coast, and the bomb can be discovered out there. With millions of sealed steel cargo containers flooding into U.S. ports, all those containers can't be opened and searched. Rather, a technology is needed that will show which containers can safely be ignored, and which few containers have contents that bear close inspection. Back-scatter technology might provide the key. "We need some innovative thinking" from researchers. For example, perhaps the enemy weapon hidden in a cargo container would have unusually heavy weight because of shielding to contain radioactivity, or it would have unusual bulk, compared to innocent items in the flow of commerce. "We need to be able to identify, track and_if necessary_interdict maritime targets, just as we do air targets" since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Verga said.
Ref: Dave Ahearn (Navy News Week), "Navy, Marine Leaders List Top Tech Needs", Navy News Week, v20 n32, August 11, 2003 (subscription required)
July 11, 2003
April 25, 2003
Screening could check all containers entering ports, not just the current < 3%
"... [P]erhaps the greatest danger we face from terrorism [is] a nuclear weapon ... being smuggled through one of our ports and detonated in one of our cities.
"Despite recent administrative improvements in container tracking, less than 3 percent of shipping containers entering the country are inspected each year. This means that approximately 770,000 containers that enter the Port of New York annually are unchecked.
"Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island indicate that nuclear screening devices capable of checking all containers can be developed relatively cheaply, yet the Bush administration refuses to spend the money to purchase them. The president here is being penny wise and pound foolish."
[Source: Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York), April 21, 2003 Letter to editor, "Security at Our Ports", New York Times, April 25, 2003]
April 12, 2003
Commercial vehicle screening at key bridges
by House and Senate conferees on supplemental appropriations bill
The conferees are concerned about the vulnerability of bridge ports of entry on the U.S-Canada border to vehicle traffic that might contain radioactive material and direct the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to implement its current plan to install a portal radiation monitor in May of 2003 at the Blue Water Bridge port of entry at Port Huron, Michigan. The conferees also direct that inspectors at the port of entry be fully trained in the detection of radioactive materials in cargo and equipped, as appropriate, with both personal radiation detectors and isotope identifiers. Because commercial motor vehicles carrying municipal solid waste may be used intentionally or accidentally to transport radioactive or other hazardous material, the conferees direct the Bureau to screen and inspect such vehicles as necessary to enforce federal law and, as appropriate, State law governing such traffic. The Bureau should give particular attention to traffic using the Ambassador Bridge port of entry in Detroit, Michigan, and the Blue Water Bridge port of entry in Port Huron, Michigan. The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection shall also reevaluate whether municipal solid waste should continue to be classified as a "low risk commodity" under the Border Release Advanced Screening and Selectivity (BRASS) System.
Other highlights here.