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CONTAINER SECURITY
WorldCargo
news
2008, the company was awarded a fur- lobby group in favour of early enforcement Nuctech scanners are also to be found
ther U$2M order by the DNDO last of the new law. operating within a dozen countries each
month to cover the ongoing development However, US producers do not have in Asia and the Americas as well as in
of its own version of radiation detector. it all their own way. Nuctech Inc of China Australia. Over 75 units are operated
This to be integrated into the Eagle mod- continues to build a sizeable and grow- within China itself by Customs, railway
ule and adapted for the seeking out of ing range of scanner devices and has al- and port organisations.
concealed nuclear materials, particularly ready gained a leading global presence. Nuchtech’s single US reference, sup-
those used to make “dirty” bombs. The company has so far supplied its plied in April 2008 for a six-month trial,
The current project represents the THSCAN model to around 80 countries, is, however, attracting controversy. The
culmination of four years’ development with sales now estimated at over 250 of Port of Los Angeles recently made known
and the creation of the enhanced its largest X-ray scanning machines. It has its intention to cancel the US$2.4M con-
Rapiscan Eagle Portal, which incorpo- obtained more than 80 separate patents, tract because of the equipment’s alleged
rates the company’s proprietary Auto-Z to protect its manufacturing and intellec- poor performance. The mobile THSCAN
algorithm to provide for the automatic tual property, including 12 from overseas. machine is reported to have failed field
detection of substances with high atomic Over 20 separate nations in Europe are tests and will likely be returned to the
Radiation detection capability is being added to Rapiscan’s Eagle Portal scanner
number and associated with nuclear currently utilising THSCAN equipment, supplier, although the latter remains scep-
weapons and their shielding material. plus a comparable number in Africa and tical about the true extent of operational mixed, with some port management un- the competitive pricing of the Nuctech
The hybrid Eagle design underwent more than 15 across the Middle East, the problems and instead cites more political happy about using China as a supplier of range and its proven operation at numer-
preliminary evaluation by government Indian sub-continent and southern states reasons for its unit’s rejection. sensitive security equipment. Others are ous other ports/terminals around the
experts at Rapiscan’s own test facilities bordering Russia. The wider US viewpoint remains firmly against any protectionism, given world. a74
last year, where it was able to detect simu-
lated nuclear threats within a variety of
different cargo types. Once the initial
contract is completed, the DNDO is due
to pilot test the system at a US port where
it will be operated within a commercial
environment.
The development of nuclear detec-
tion devices clearly remains one of the
more fruitful areas of research open to
suppliers of cargo surveillance hardware.
Cargotec Port Security Inc, part of
Cargotec Coropration, has completed
field evaluations of its crane spreader-
mounted radiation detection system
(RDS) in Charleston and Tacoma in con-
junction with the US-CBP and US De-
Asia Pacific Port Infrastructure
partment of Energy (DoE) Megaport
Program, as well as trials at the DoE’s Los
Alamos National Laboratory. The RDS
has QATT (Qualified Anti-Terrorism
Planning and Development 2009
Technology) Designation from the DHS.
The all-embracing study involved neu-
tron and gamma-ray sensitivity testing and
confirmed that the device was able to de-
4 – 5 March 2009 l Hyatt Regency, Perth
tect and identify offending materials at all
points sampled across the container, even
when they were placed within seven lay-
ers of protection. The positioning of a ra-
diation detector on a standard spreader is
particularly favoured by the US authori-
ties, as it could enable this all-important
checking procedure to be carried out dur-
ing the routine handling cycle, without the
need for a separate process.
Vested interest
The fact that a very big share of all the
research associated with cargo inspection
technology, as well as its actual production,
is taking place in the US has not been over-
looked by overseas opponents of the HR1
bill, as this large US industry sector is cer-
tain to benefit further from mandatory de-
ployment of scanning equipment at ports
worldwide. It is, therefore, viewed by many
outside the US as yet another powerful US
Detectors
from Israel
Israel-based Scent Detection Tech-
Your registration for the 2 day conference includes a boat tour of Fremantle Port - places are limited
nologies (SDT), a leading producer of
trace detection systems designed for
use in cargo inspection, military and
Featuring international case studies:
law enforcement applications, has re-
cently shipped a batch of its MN1000-
Captain Neil Chetty, Chief Harbour Master,
Tiedo Vellinga, Director Environment Safety and Spatial Planning,
B Dual-Mode Explosives and Narcot-
Port of Coega, South Africa
ics Trace Detection (ETD) systems for
Maasvlakte 2, Port of Rotterdam Authority & Associate Professor,
deployment in India.
Boowon Kang, Director, Ports and Environment, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Although these hand-held units are
Busan Port Authority, South Korea
primarily for use in checking person-
nel and luggage and were ordered in
the immediate aftermath of the recent
Endorsed by:
Mumbai bombings, they have the po-
tential to be used at seaports, airports
PLUS
and other border checkpoints and
could play a part in checking the con-
Port & Terminal Financing
tents of transiting freight containers
that are deemed to be high risk by Workshop on Tuesday 3rd March
Supporting publications:
port/Customs officials. As such, they
could provide flexible support to the
operation of heavier duty X-ray or
gamma-ray scanners.
The light-weight MN1000-B
monitor can identify a wide range of
WWW.INFORMA.COM.AU/PORTDEVELOPMENT
explosives, chemicals, narcotics and con-
traband materials. They use non-radio-
To Register:
Researched and developed by:
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officials, and have already been tested
(+ 61 2) 9290 3844 www.informa.com.au/portdevelopment
thoroughly by the Israeli Army and at
the Beijing Olympics last year. a74
February 2009 49
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