Re: Article from 3/2 Christian Science Monitor: "Pardon me, sir,

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 12:06 02.03.2000 -0600, you wrote:
>Hi folks -
>
>I ran across this article this morning ... I thought some of y'all might
be interested. The URL for the article is
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/03/02/fp17s2-csm.shtml
>
>
>
>
>=========
>
>Pardon me, sir, your luggage is radioactive
>Tom Regan
>Christian Science Monitor
>March 2, 2000
>  
>When the radioactive "alarm" on the belt of US Customs Inspector Ray Mace
went off, he was puzzled, he says. With the possibility of criminals and
terrorists trying to smuggle nuclear weapons or materials into the United
States, many customs inspectors now wear the detectors. But this was the
first time it had gone off on Mr. Mace.

I am quite sure, that a nuclear weapon would not be detected by a simple
radiation detection device - how should Pu-239 be detected? Even more
important, a nuclear bomb needs at least some explosives etc. etc. which
might make it highly unlikely that it could be transported in a suitcase
because of its volume, not to talk about the weight. Yes, I know that the
critical mass of some transplutonic elements are in the order of a few
grams. How likely is it that a terrorist would have access to it - even
more likely than Pu-239-bombs. 


>
>The inspector, who works at Boston's Logan Airport, took aside the man who
had set off the alarm, along with his luggage. When Mace stood near the
luggage the meter registered zero. But when he stood near the passenger,
there was a mid-level reading.
>
>"So I told him what had happened," Mace says. "He thought for a moment and
then said that he had just had a physical where they had used a radioactive
isotope to take a reading on something. 

Is this the "informed consumer", who does not even know, what kind of
medical investigation he has undergone? The same "informed consumer" who is
requested to have an opinion on nuclear power, irradiated food etc?



It was funny, but reassuring, you know. If it'll pick up a reading on a
week-old physical, imagine the reading if a terrorist actually did try to
bring in a weapon through the airport."


As I mentioned above, the weapon could not be carried in and we know very
well, that the amount of radionuclides used in nuclear medicine are many
orders of magnitude higher than we have radioactivity in the environment.



>
>The radioactive detector is just one example of how the US Customs Service
is using technology. After the recent seizure of several suspected
terrorists along the US-Canada border, 

Any RADSAFER having information on this?




>
>"People complain when we prevent them from bringing certain foods into the
country, but a few years ago one Mediterranean fruit fly that got in
resulted in $300-million worth of damage to the orange crop in Florida."

Very surprising, I always thought that two subjects of different sex are
needed to duplicate or multiplicate. At least for human beings, mammals
(other than human beings), insects, reptiles....... 


Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
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