Raytheon to develop rail nuke detectors
Raytheon Co., a large defense contractor and systems integrator, said it won a $4.3 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office to develop next-generation devices that can detect nuclear weapons and other radioactive material on rail cars.
Radiation inspections at seaports of containers moving inland by intermodal transportation has proven difficult for DHS because of the logistical challenges associated with on-dock rail and the fact that rail systems contain too much naturally occurring radiation because of the amount of iron ore they carry.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection currently uses first-generation radiation portal monitors to passively sense for radiation in inbound containers and trailers as they exit ports of entry by truck. The systems are subject to many nuisance alarms because they cannot distinguish between benign radiation, commonly found in goods such as ceramic tile and fertilizer or the surrounding environment, and radiation from weapons-grade material. The DNDO has touted the improved accuracy of Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) monitors since 2005, but the new technology has come under fire for not being any better at detecting lightly shielded highly enriched uranium or plutonium then the existing systems. CBP has also said it does not want to field a device that doesn't make inspection operations more efficient. DHS has delayed certification and purchases of the ASPs for more than two years while it tries to resolve technical and operational problems.
Raytheon is one of the companies that have been working with DHS on perfecting the ASP monitors. The latest contract is for a new configuration that can scan rail cars. The primary difference is that the panels, which flank a roadway or railroad track, are taller than the existing version so they can take readings at the top of a rail car.
The detectors would be placed along the track to check railcars as they leave the port, Raytheon spokeswoman Carol Sobel said.
The challenges of radiation detection in the rail environment have led CBP in some ports to require yard tractors to drive containers through radiation portal monitors on their way to the rail loading point.
Raytheon said the panels would be tested this summer at the Port of Tacoma, Wash.
Tacoma, which has a heavy concentration of intermodal business, has served since 2007 as a DHS test bed for technology and concepts of operation designed to check for radiation in cargo transferred from ship to rail.
One of the ways CBP, which operates the radiation detection pilot program, has inspected rail containers in Tacoma is by laying the containers on the ground on the dock or adjacent intermodal yard and using a mobile device carried on a modified sports utility vehicle to check for radiation. The extra steps add time and cost to the transportation process. ' Eric Kulisch