PNNL

Abstract

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the primary enforcement agency protecting the nation’s ports of entry. CBP is enhancing its capability to interdict the illicit import of nuclear and radiological materials and devices that may be used by terrorists. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is providing scientific and technical support to CBP in their goal to enable rapid deployment of nuclear and radiation detection systems at U. S. ports of entry to monitor 100% of the incoming international traffic and cargo while not adversely impacting the operations or throughput of the ports. As the deployment of radiation detection systems proceeds, there is a need to adapt the baseline radiation portal monitor (RPM) system technology to operations at these diverse ports of entry. When screening produces an alarm in the primary inspection RPM, the alarming vehicle is removed from the flow of commerce and the alarm is typically confirmed in a secondary inspection RPM. The portable source identification device (PSID) is a radiation sensor panel (RSP), based on thallium-doped sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)) scintillation detector and gamma spectroscopic analysis hardware and software, mounted on a scissor lift on a small truck. The lift supports a box containing a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) sodium iodide detector that provides real-time isotopic identification, including neutron detectors to interdict Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and radiation dispersion devices (RDD). The scissor lift will lower the detectors to within a foot off the ground and raise them to approximately 24 feet in the air, allowing a wide vertical scanning range.