|
 The
Virginia Port Authority and local, state, and federal agencies join forces
to test processes for targeting radioactive containers.
It's gotten routine at local state-owned marine cargo terminals these days:
a hit on the radiation detector machines.
Radioactive substances, in fact, were found 1,047 times in 2004, nearly three
a day on average, on trucks carrying marine containers leaving the docks bound
for local roads.
But in every single case, it turned out to be something innocuous: smoke detectors,
medical equipment, ceramic, and granite, for example, all give off low levels
of radiation. And the cargo manifest -- a list of the freight that comes with
each container -- has always matched up with the shipment.
In a training drill at Norfolk International Terminals Wednesday, the Virginia
Port Authority police and local, state and federal agencies dealt with a situation
that was far different.
The cargo manifest didn't match what the radiation scanners were saying was
inside the container.
That is, the manifest said the shipment was plastics. But the high-tech scanner
used to identify types of radiation whenever there's a hit, a radio isotope
identifier, said the freight was Cesium 137, which would typically be found
in medical equipment, but not in plastics.
The drill, dubbed "Iron Shield," was all
about what to do next -- including tracking down other containers that were
part of the same fake shipment from abroad.
"If you found a box with this discrepancy, you look for other boxes that
have had the same history that are inside the terminal," said Ed Merkle,
the Virginia Port Authority's security director.
Nine other containers, some real and some on paper, were purposely set up
-- eight on the terminal itself and another already one on its way to Richmond
by barge.
By mid-morning, all had been identified. By late morning, they'd all been
moved to the isolation area.
The drill also involved how to inspect such a container, when to call in hazardous
materials teams and when to declare the event a transportation security incident,
which would trigger Coast Guard involvement.
The test involved some 60 people from 16 different agencies. Aside from the
Virginia Port Authority, other participants included Virginia International
Terminals; the Coast Guard; the federal Customs and Border Protection; the
FBI; the city of Norfolk; Zel Technologies, the Hampton company helping the
authority to implement its security plan; and several other city, state and
federal agencies.
The idea, Merkle said, was simply to learn about what to do, and when.
"A lot of learning took place preparing, then during the incident, then
in assessing what went well and what we would like to improve on," he
said. *
DETECTING RADIOACTIVITY
1,047 - The number of times in 2004 that radiation detectors found radioactivity
inside cargo containers coming through Hampton Roads terminals.
0 - The number of times the radiation was determined to be something dangerous.
A drill conducted at Norfolk International Terminals
on Wednesday used a gamma ray machine during a December inspection. The machine
is a density reader similar to a giant X-ray machine that can help find weapons
and other contraband. Older wrist watches and smoke detectors are just two
of the many harmless items that can set off radiation detectors. Some others
are clocks, compasses, and medical equipment.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or
distribution is prohibited without permission.
Abstract (Document Summary)
In every single case, it turned out to be something innocuous: smoke detectors,
medical equipment, ceramic, and granite, for example, all give off low levels
of radiation. And the cargo manifest -- a list of the freight that comes with
each container -- has always matched up with
the shipment.
The test involved some 60 people from 16 different agencies.
Aside from the Virginia Port Authority, other participants included Virginia
International Terminals; the Coast Guard; the federal Customs and Border Protection;
the FBI; the city of Norfolk; Zel Technologies, the Hampton company helping
the authority to implement its security plan; and several other city, state,
and federal agencies.
For more information about Zel Technologies, please contact
us as follows:
Zel Technologies LLC (ZelTech)
Attention: Corporate Affairs
54 Old Hampton Lane
Hampton, VA 23669
Telephone: (757) 722-5565
Fax: (757) 722-8516
News Archives:
|
