Pubdate: Wed, 20 Nov 2002
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2002 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117

DEVICE MAY DO X-RAYS ONE BETTER

El Paso Border Crossing To Test System That Reads Cargo's Chemical Makeup

EL PASO - A new type of detector that can identify the chemical composition 
of loads inside trucks and alert inspectors to suspicious materials will be 
in place next summer at a southeast El Paso international bridge.

"It's an exciting concept," said P.T. Wright, operations chief for the U.S. 
Customs Service in El Paso. "For 5,000 years, customs inspectors had to see 
it, touch it and feel it, but this enables them to inspect something 
without ever having to open a container."

El Paso is the only city along the U.S.-Mexico border that will test the 
system. After a six-month, $15 million trial is complete, the system's 
success will be evaluated and Congress will decide whether to continue 
funding the program.

Unlike the existing X-ray systems, which only indicate whether a container 
is empty or has a load, the new technology uses gamma rays, subatomic 
particles, that can read the chemical composition of its contents.

"Using the known gamma-ray fingerprints of contraband materials, [the 
system] can detect their presence," said program manager Bill Snow, who 
works for Veridian Information Solutions in Falls Church, Va. "For the 
chemical makeup of specific explosives and narcotics, the computers 
automatically alert operators for the presence of these substances."

X-ray systems in use have a 45 percent to 50 percent error rate, compared 
with the gamma-ray system's error rate of less than 1 percent, project 
officials said.

Ancore, using a manufacturing plant in Santa Clara, Calif., is making the 
"Fast Pulsed Neutron Analysis" system for the project, which is spearheaded 
by the Defense Department in conjunction with the Customs Service and 
Transportation Security Administration.

Mr. Snow said officials chose the Zaragosa border crossing in southeast El 
Paso for the pilot program because it has enough space to accommodate the 
new structure and a high volume of commercial traffic.

The large volume of commercial crossings contributes to the longer waiting 
times. The number of 20-foot containers entering U.S. border crossings and 
seaports doubled between 1990 and 2000 - to 30.3 million from 15.2 million 
- - but inspection staffs and facilities have not kept up with the growth.

"This is an automatic, material-specific identification system that needs 
no human interpretation," said Peter Kant, governmental relations vice 
president for the Jefferson Consulting Group, which is working with Ancore. 
"It can tell you if something is sarin gas, cocaine or something else."

Whenever a Customs Service inspector needs to take apart a cargo load for 
further checking, it can take up to 15 hours, he said.

"We're very interested in technologies that would speed up the service and 
deliveries to our customers in a safe environment," said Michael Hissam, 
spokesman for Delphi Automotive Systems, which operates more than 15 plants 
and a technical center in Juárez, Mexico.

"We're also very supportive of efforts to improve transborder security."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens