Nation’s Busiest Seaports to Have Complete Radiation Detection-end 2005

[The Straight Story]

Nation’s Busiest Seaports to Have Complete Radiation Detection Coverage by End of 2005

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
June 3, 2005

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff today announced that the nation’s busiest seaports -- Los Angeles/Long Beach, California -- will have complete Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM) coverage by year’s end.

Three terminal locations, at Piers 400, 300 and Trans Pacific, within the Port of Los Angeles are scheduled to go on-line by the end of June. A total of ninety RPMs, which will screen all international container traffic and vehicles exiting the facility for nuclear materials or hidden sources of radiation, will be operational by December 2005.

RPMs are detection devices that provide U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) officers with a passive, non-intrusive means to screen containers, vessels or vehicles for the presence of nuclear and radiological materials. These systems do not emit radiation but are capable of detecting various types of radiation emanating from nuclear devices, dirty bombs, special nuclear materials, natural sources, and isotopes commonly used in medicine and industry.

“By applying advanced technology, we will soon be able to screen every vehicle and container entering the nation’s busiest seaports for nuclear and radiological materials, without disrupting the free flow of trade. Complete and efficient coverage at the LA/Long Beach Seaports is a major step forward for national security and a model for other ports,” said Secretary Chertoff.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=4530