US ports speed up deployment of scanners

US CUSTOMS and border protection (CBP) officers have speeded up deployment of radiation portal monitors at all major seaports across the nation, setting an end of year deadline for full deployment, according to schednet.com. The new radiation scanners are designed to detect materials used in radiological weapons such as dirty bombs in a bid to thwart terrorists’ efforts to smuggle weapons of mass destruction in containerised cargo bound for US ports. The first port facilities to be equipped with the high-tech devices will be in the New York-New Jersey area where every truck carrying containers will be scanned as they leave the cargo terminals, according to a New York Times report. The stricter controls come in the wake of the recent Madrid bombings, the rationale being that the best way to prevent a terrorist attack is by preventing terrorists or terrorist weapons from entering the country in the first instance.