Screening Cargo Containers to Remove a Terrorist Threat

Technical Report · Tue Sep 20 00:00:00 EDT 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/883727· OSTI ID:883727

Hazi, A

Each year some 48 million cargo containers move between the world's ports. More than 6 million of these enter the U.S., but only about 2 percent are opened and inspected when they arrive at U.S. seaports. The West Coast ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach, Oakland, and Seattle alone process 11,000 containers per day, or about 8 containers per minute. Because of this high traffic volume, U.S. seaports are especially vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Illicit radioactive materials could be hidden in any one of the cargo-filled containers that arrive at U.S. ports. Yet, searching every shipment would be bring legitimate commercial activities to a halt. Improving security at U.S. ports is thus one of the nation's most difficult technical and practical challenges because the systems developed for screening cargo must operate in concert with ongoing seaport activities. Working at this intersection of commerce and national security, Lawrence Livermore researchers are applying their expertise in radiation science and detection to develop improved technologies for detecting hidden radioactive materials. One new technology being designed and tested at the Laboratory is a neutron interrogation system for cargo containers. This system will quickly screen incoming shipments to ensure that nuclear materials such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) are not smuggled into the U.S.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 883727
• Report Number(s): UCRL-TR-215721; TRN: US0603553
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
CARGO
CONTAINERS
DETECTION
HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM
NATIONAL SECURITY
NEUTRONS
PLUTONIUM
RADIATIONS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
SCREENS
SECURITY
TRADE