AUGMENTING SECURITY AT AIRPORTS, SEAPORTS, REACTORS, RAILWAYS, BORDERS, AND PRIVATE FACILITIES

Terrorist threats and activities have demonstrated that western countries must improve their security postures to detect chemical and radiological source materials that may be entering their countries. Control of these materials at their source is typically the first consideration with detection of these materials prior to entry into the country the next. For nuclear materials, radiation detecting portal monitors can be positioned at key locations in customs entry points while personnel carrying portable monitors scan objects as necessary. However, border security personnel have missed portal alarms indicating radiological material is entering their country. To decrease human errors and free up personnel for other activities, explosive, radiological, chemical, motion, position and other sensors/detection are currently being interfaced with an enhanced but proven automated surveillance and data acquisition system. This system not only captures and maintains important visual and detection data surrounding the activity but also provides immediate notifications of the alarm event. These systems are currently being installed in airports and nuclear facilities and are under active consideration for installation in seaports, railway stations, medical facilities, and border crossings in North America and Europe. This paper will present a discussion of this integrated surveillance and data transfer security system capabilities and their importance for application for detecting terrorist materials during transport.