Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Cargo Scanning shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Cargo Scanning offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Cargo Scanning at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Cargo Scanning? Wrong! If the Cargo Scanning is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Cargo Scanning then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Cargo Scanning? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Cargo Scanning and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Cargo Scanning wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Cargo Scanning then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Cargo Scanning site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Cargo Scanning, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Cargo Scanning, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
Non-intrusive cargo scanning (aka
Non-Intrusive Inspection - NII) or more specifically scanning of intermodal freight transport containers is a technological challenge which have seen a lot of research activity in last decade. In US it is spearheaded by Department of Homeland Security and its
Container Security Initiative (CSI) trying to achieve hundred percent cargo scanning by 2012 "100% Cargo Scanning Passes Congress" article in "FedEx Trade Networks" (Aug. 02, 2007)as required by US Congress and recommended by
9/11 Commission. In US the main purpose of scanning is to detect special nuclear materials (SNMs), with added bonus of detecting other types of suspicious cargo. In other countries the emphasis is on manifest verification, tariff collection and the identification of contrabandhttp://www.usacc.org/content.php?id=2713&type=news.As of 2007 less than 5% of US incoming containers are being scanned "US Tasked to Scan Millions of Containers" article by Jim Abrams (Aug 23, 2007).In order to bring that number to 100% researchers are evaluating numerous technologies, described in the following sections.
Radiography
Gamma-ray Radiography
Image with
stowawaysGamma-ray radiography systems capable of scanning trucks usually use
Cobalt-60 or
Cesium-137{{cite web | title =Technical Specifications of Mobile VACIS Inspection System
| url=http://www.saic.com/products/security/mobile-vacis/mobile-tech.html
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->
as a radioactive source and a vertical tower of gamma
detectors. This
gamma camera is able to produce one column of an image. The horizontal dimension of the image is produced by moving either the truck or the scanning hardware. The Cobalt-60 units use gamma
photons with mean energy 1.25 MeV and can penetrate up to 15-18 cm of steel{{cite web | title =Technical Specifications of Mobile Rapiscan GaRDS Inspection System
| url=http://www.rapiscansystems.com/datasheets/Rapiscan_GaRDSMobile_Screen.pdf
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 --> .
The systems provide good quality images which can be used for identifying cargo and comparing it with the manifest, in attempt to detect
Anomalous phenomenon. It can also identify high-density regions too thick to penetrate, which would be the most likely to hide nuclear threats.
X-ray
Radiography
Similar to
Gamma-ray radiography but instead of radioactive source, it uses High energy X-rays
Bremsstrahlung spectrum with energy in 5-10 MeV range{{cite web | title = Overview of VACIS P7500 Inspection System
| url=http://www.saic.com/products/security/vacis-p/
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->
{{cite paper | author =Jones,J. L.; Haskell, K. J.; Hoggan, J. M.; Norman, D. R.
| title =ARACOR Eagle-Matched Operations and Neutron Detector Performance Tests
| publisher =Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
| date =June 2002
| url =http://www.inl.gov/technicalpublications/Documents/3310854.pdf
| format =PDF
| accessdate =Sep. 2007 --> created by [linear particle accelerator (LINAC).
Such x-ray systems can penetrate up to 30-40 cm of steel{{cite web | title = Technical Specifications of VACIS P7500 Inspection System
| url=http://www.saic.com/products/security/vacis-p/p-tech.html
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->
{{cite web | title = Technical Specifications of Rapiscan Eagle Inspection System
| url=http://www.rapiscansystems.com/datasheets/Rapiscan_Eagle_Screen.pdf
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->
in vehicles moving with velocities up to 13 km/h. They provide higher penetration but also cost more to buy and operate. They are more suitable for detection of special nuclear materials than gamma-ray systems. They also deliver about 1000 times higher dose of radiation to potential stowaways{{cite paper | author =Dan A. Strellis
| title =Protecting our Borders while Ensuring Radiation Safety
| place =Presentation to the Northern California Chapter of the Health Physics Society
| date =Nov. 4, 2004
| url =http://hpschapters.org/ncchps/Inspection_Systems_at_POE.pdf
| format =PDF of Powerpoint Presentation
| accessdate = Sep. 2007-->.
Dual-energy
X-ray Radiography
Backscatter X-ray Radiography
Muon Radiography
"Muon radiography" by Brian Fishbine from Los Alamos National Laboratory "MU-Detector - a Novel Method of Detecting Nuclear Weapons, Dirty Bombs and Voids in Cargo" "Muons for Peace" by Mark Wolverton in Scientific American
Neutron Activation Systems
Pulsed Fast Neutron Analysis (PFNA) and Thermal Neutron Activation (TNA) – detect gamma-rays created when
neutrons interact with matter.
Passive Radiation Detectors
Gamma Radiation Detectors
Nuclear materials emit large amounts of gamma photons and gamma radiation detectors, also called Radiation Portal Monitors (RPM), are very good at detecting them. Systems currently used in US ports (and
steel mills) use several (usually 4) large
Polyvinyl_toluene panels as
scintillators and can be used on vehicles moving up to 16 km/h{{cite web | title = Overview of Exploranium's AT-980 Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM)
| url=http://www.saic.com/products/security/at-980/
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->.
They provide very little information on energy of detected photons, and as result, they were criticized for their inability to distinguish gammas originating from nuclear sources from gammas originating from large variety of
benign cargo types that naturally emit radioactivity, including bananas, cat litter,
granite,
porcelain,
stoneware, etc.{{cite book | title =Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement in Department of Homeland Security Contracts
| publisher =[United States House of Representatives
| date =July 2006
| pages =12-13
| url =http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20060727092939-29369.pdf
-->. Those
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials, called NORMs account for 99% of false alarms{{cite web | title = Manual for Ludlum Model 3500-1000 Radiation Detector System
| url=http://www.ludlums.com/manuals/M3500-1000mar06.pdf
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->.
Some radiation, like in case of large loads of bananas is due to potassium and its rarely occurring (0.0117%) radioactive isotope potassium-40, other is due to radium or uranium that occur naturally in earth and rock, and cargo types made out of them, like
cat litter or
porcelain.
Radiation originating from earth is also a major contributor to so called, background radiation.
Another limitation of gamma radiation detectors is that gamma photons can be easily suppressed by high-density shields made from lead or steel, preventing detection of nuclear sources. Luckily, those types of shields do not stop fission neutrons produced by
plutonium sources. As result radiation detectors usually combine gamma and neutron detectors, making shielding only effective for
uranium sources.
Neutron Radiation Detectors
Gamma spectroscopy
See Also
References
External Links
Non-intrusive cargo scanning (aka
Non-Intrusive Inspection - NII) or more specifically scanning of intermodal freight transport containers is a technological challenge which have seen a lot of research activity in last decade. In US it is spearheaded by Department of Homeland Security and its
Container Security Initiative (CSI) trying to achieve hundred percent cargo scanning by 2012 "100% Cargo Scanning Passes Congress" article in "FedEx Trade Networks" (Aug. 02, 2007)as required by
US Congress and recommended by 9/11 Commission. In US the main purpose of scanning is to detect
special nuclear materials (SNMs), with added bonus of detecting other types of suspicious cargo. In other countries the emphasis is on manifest verification, tariff collection and the identification of contrabandhttp://www.usacc.org/content.php?id=2713&type=news.As of 2007 less than 5% of US incoming containers are being scanned "US Tasked to Scan Millions of Containers" article by Jim Abrams (Aug 23, 2007).In order to bring that number to 100% researchers are evaluating numerous technologies, described in the following sections.
Radiography
Gamma-ray Radiography
Image with
stowawaysGamma-ray radiography systems capable of scanning trucks usually use Cobalt-60 or Cesium-137{{cite web | title =Technical Specifications of Mobile VACIS Inspection System
| url=http://www.saic.com/products/security/mobile-vacis/mobile-tech.html
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->
as a radioactive source and a vertical tower of gamma detectors. This
gamma camera is able to produce one column of an image. The horizontal dimension of the image is produced by moving either the truck or the scanning hardware. The
Cobalt-60 units use gamma photons with mean energy 1.25 MeV and can penetrate up to 15-18 cm of steel{{cite web | title =Technical Specifications of Mobile Rapiscan GaRDS Inspection System
| url=http://www.rapiscansystems.com/datasheets/Rapiscan_GaRDSMobile_Screen.pdf
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 --> .
The systems provide good quality images which can be used for identifying cargo and comparing it with the manifest, in attempt to detect Anomalous phenomenon. It can also identify high-density regions too thick to penetrate, which would be the most likely to hide nuclear threats.
X-ray Radiography
Similar to
Gamma-ray radiography but instead of radioactive source, it uses
High energy X-rays Bremsstrahlung spectrum with energy in 5-10 MeV range{{cite web | title = Overview of VACIS P7500 Inspection System
| url=http://www.saic.com/products/security/vacis-p/
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->
{{cite paper | author =Jones,J. L.; Haskell, K. J.; Hoggan, J. M.; Norman, D. R.
| title =ARACOR Eagle-Matched Operations and Neutron Detector Performance Tests
| publisher =Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
| date =June 2002
| url =http://www.inl.gov/technicalpublications/Documents/3310854.pdf
| format =PDF
| accessdate =Sep. 2007 --> created by [linear particle accelerator (LINAC).
Such
x-ray systems can penetrate up to 30-40 cm of steel{{cite web | title = Technical Specifications of VACIS P7500 Inspection System
| url=http://www.saic.com/products/security/vacis-p/p-tech.html
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->
{{cite web | title = Technical Specifications of Rapiscan Eagle Inspection System
| url=http://www.rapiscansystems.com/datasheets/Rapiscan_Eagle_Screen.pdf
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->
in vehicles moving with velocities up to 13 km/h. They provide higher penetration but also cost more to buy and operate. They are more suitable for detection of
special nuclear materials than gamma-ray systems. They also deliver about 1000 times higher dose of radiation to potential stowaways{{cite paper | author =Dan A. Strellis
| title =Protecting our Borders while Ensuring Radiation Safety
| place =Presentation to the Northern California Chapter of the Health Physics Society
| date =Nov. 4, 2004
| url =http://hpschapters.org/ncchps/Inspection_Systems_at_POE.pdf
| format =PDF of Powerpoint Presentation
| accessdate = Sep. 2007-->.
Dual-energy
X-ray Radiography
Backscatter X-ray Radiography
Muon Radiography
"Muon radiography" by Brian Fishbine from Los Alamos National Laboratory "MU-Detector - a Novel Method of Detecting Nuclear Weapons, Dirty Bombs and Voids in Cargo" "Muons for Peace" by Mark Wolverton in Scientific American
Neutron Activation Systems
Pulsed Fast Neutron Analysis (PFNA) and Thermal Neutron Activation (TNA) – detect gamma-rays created when
neutrons interact with matter.
Passive Radiation Detectors
Gamma
Radiation Detectors
Nuclear materials emit large amounts of gamma photons and gamma radiation detectors, also called Radiation Portal Monitors (RPM), are very good at detecting them. Systems currently used in US ports (and steel mills) use several (usually 4) large Polyvinyl_toluene panels as
scintillators and can be used on vehicles moving up to 16 km/h{{cite web | title = Overview of Exploranium's AT-980 Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM)
| url=http://www.saic.com/products/security/at-980/
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->.
They provide very little information on energy of detected photons, and as result, they were criticized for their inability to distinguish gammas originating from nuclear sources from gammas originating from large variety of
benign cargo types that naturally emit radioactivity, including bananas,
cat litter, granite,
porcelain, stoneware, etc.{{cite book | title =Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement in Department of Homeland Security Contracts
| publisher =[United States House of Representatives
| date =July 2006
| pages =12-13
| url =http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20060727092939-29369.pdf
-->. Those
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials, called NORMs account for 99% of false alarms{{cite web | title = Manual for Ludlum Model 3500-1000 Radiation Detector System
| url=http://www.ludlums.com/manuals/M3500-1000mar06.pdf
| accessdate = Sep. 2007 -->.
Some radiation, like in case of large loads of bananas is due to
potassium and its rarely occurring (0.0117%) radioactive isotope potassium-40, other is due to
radium or uranium that occur naturally in earth and rock, and cargo types made out of them, like cat litter or porcelain.
Radiation originating from earth is also a major contributor to so called, background radiation.
Another limitation of gamma radiation detectors is that gamma photons can be easily suppressed by high-density shields made from lead or steel, preventing detection of nuclear sources. Luckily, those types of shields do not stop fission neutrons produced by
plutonium sources. As result radiation detectors usually combine gamma and neutron detectors, making shielding only effective for
uranium sources.
Neutron Radiation Detectors
Gamma spectroscopy
See Also
References
External Links
