New Radiation Gauges Going To Port Newark

By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press | October 4, 2006

NEWARK, N.J. — More than 200 times each day, authorities detect radiation in containers arriving off cargo ships at Port Newark.It's in ceramic tiles, granite, pottery, kitty litter — all natural products made from Earth's elements.

This month, the port is getting a new generation of radiation detectors that will more quickly distinguish those natural products from dangerous nuclear materials that could be used by terrorists.

It's just one of several new technologies being used at the nation's third busiest seaport to help screen for dirty bombs or terrorist weapons.

"Of all the areas that need to be addressed, this is the Holy Grail.This is the one that's the scariest," a maritime security expert with Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., and retired U.S. Navy captain, Tom Barnes, said."You can make a lot of people sick or even kill a lot of people,"he said."When you talk about radiation, that's what shuts areas down for 50 years. Just think Chernobyl."

The devices being tested at Port Newark represent the next generation in port security, the chief of seaport enforcement for the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection in New York and New Jersey, Kevin McCabe, said.

If they prove successful, they could change how ports across the nation screen for threats, he said.

Customs agents use hand-held isotope identifiers to confirm that cargo emits only naturally occurring radiation if an alarm is triggered by stationary sensors.

This can happen every few minutes at Port Newark, where between 5,000 and 6,000 containers arrive daily.

One recent morning, the light on one of the goal post-shaped radiation detectors changed from green to red as a tractor-trailer passed through with a loaded container behind it.

A customs inspector then walked alongside the container holding up a radiation detector that took readings on what was inside. The readings showed the radiation was nothing to be concerned about.It was ceramic tile — exactly what the truck's paperwork indicated.