Article: N.J. Gets Seaport Radiation Detectors

[John Jacobus <crispy_bird@YAHOO.COM>]

This just in . . .



N.J. Gets Seaport Radiation Detectors    



By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press Writer 



JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Jersey City has become the

nation's first seaport to use new radiation detectors

that scan all incoming cargo for nuclear or

radiological weapons, federal officials said Monday. 



Similar devices are planned for 90 percent of the

country's seaports by the end of summer, said U.S.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C.

Bonner. 



"The best way to prevent a terrorist attack is by

preventing terrorists or terrorist weapons from

entering our country in the first instance," Bonner

said at the Global Marine Terminal in Jersey City. 



Several million cargo containers . about 95 percent of

U.S. international trade . enter the United States

every year through its 361 sea and river ports. Since

Sept. 11, many people have worried that terrorists

might use the containers to sneak biological weapons

or other arms into the country. 



Previously, only about 8 percent of the cargo

containers at Global Marine Terminal were examined for

signs of radiation because the process was done by

hand, said Richard O'Brien, the port's deputy chief

inspector. 



Now, all 500 or so containers that leave there each

day will be screened by passing them through five

20-foot-high detectors, he said. 



The terminal is part of Port Newark-Elizabeth, which

is the largest seaport on the East Coast. 



The new detectors, which were installed in February

and cost nearly $1 million, have already flagged

radiation in cargo, O'Brien said. In each case, he

said, the culprit was something harmless such as

natural radiation emitted by pottery or ceramic tiles.





The scanners resemble inverted football goal posts.

Every container that has been taken off a ship and

loaded on a truck must pass through one of four

primary screening units before leaving the terminal. 



If radiation is detected, the container goes through

another unit for a closer scan and, if necessary, is

scrutinized with hand-held or truck-mounted devices. 



There are 248 of the portals already in use at border

crossings with Canada and Mexico, O'Brien said. 





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""A fanatic is one who cannot change his mind and won't change the subject."  Winston Churchill



-- John

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

e-mail:  crispy_bird@yahoo.com



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