http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/ ... nitors.php

Radiation monitors make screening easier on U.S.-Mexico border
The Associated Press


TUCSON, Arizona Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have been using a new tool to prevent radioactive materials from being smuggled into the country from Mexico.
Radiation portal monitors have been screening vehicles for radioactive materials at the ports of entry in Nogales since Oct. 11.
The 8-feet- (2.5-meter-) tall machines are stationed at each side of eight vehicle lanes at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in downtown Nogales, near the booths where officers conduct interviews.
The machines don't create images like an X-ray machine, but instread detect energy emitted by radioactive sources coming from nuclear devices, dirty bombs, special nuclear materials, natural sources and isotopes used in medicine and industry.
So far, the machines have only gone off for legitimate reasons, including detecting someone who has recently undergone radiation treatment.
When the machine is activated, it sends a signal to officers who then use a hand-held device to verify the source. If it appears to be medical, officers can send the reading to a computer at a laboratory in Virginia and get a response in about 10 minutes, said Brian Levin, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection.
The machines are an improvement on the hand-held radiation detectors officers have used since 1996, Levin said.
Customs and Border Protection is installing the machines at land border ports, seaports and airports nationwide.
TUCSON, Arizona Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have been using a new tool to prevent radioactive materials from being smuggled into the country from Mexico.
Radiation portal monitors have been screening vehicles for radioactive materials at the ports of entry in Nogales since Oct. 11.
The 8-feet- (2.5-meter-) tall machines are stationed at each side of eight vehicle lanes at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in downtown Nogales, near the booths where officers conduct interviews.
The machines don't create images like an X-ray machine, but instread detect energy emitted by radioactive sources coming from nuclear devices, dirty bombs, special nuclear materials, natural sources and isotopes used in medicine and industry.
So far, the machines have only gone off for legitimate reasons, including detecting someone who has recently undergone radiation treatment.
When the machine is activated, it sends a signal to officers who then use a hand-held device to verify the source. If it appears to be medical, officers can send the reading to a computer at a laboratory in Virginia and get a response in about 10 minutes, said Brian Levin, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection.
The machines are an improvement on the hand-held radiation detectors officers have used since 1996, Levin said.
Customs and Border Protection is installing the machines at land border ports, seaports and airports nationwide.