Radiation Detectors in Ports
According to Reuters:
The United States is stepping up investment in radiation detection devices at its ports to thwart attempts to smuggle a nuclear device or dirty bomb into the country, a Senate committee heard on Wednesday.
Robert Bonner, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told a Senate subcommittee on homeland security that since the first such devices were installed in May 2000, they had picked up over 10,000 radiation hits in vehicles or cargo shipments entering the country. All proved harmless.
It amazes me that 10,000 false alarms—instances where the security system failed—are being touted as proof that the system is working.
As an example of how the system was working, Bonner said on Jan. 26, 2005, a machines got a hit from a South Korean vessel at the Los Angeles seaport. The radiation turned out to be emanating from the ship’s fire extinguishing system and was no threat to safety.
That sounds like an example of how the system is not working to me. Sometimes I wish that those in charge of security actually understood security.