Radiation Detection Update

An update on earlier posts regarding radiation detection:

HLS Watch points out that the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) is starting a project to evaluate radiation detection systems at ports - specifically, at the transfer point from ship to rail:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon begin conducting multiple projects in the Port of Tacoma, Wash., to evaluate technology and concepts of operations for radiation detection that will scan cargo at various points in transfer from ship to rail. By establishing a Rail Test Center (RTC) at the port, DHS will identify and evaluate radiological and nuclear detection solutions for intermodal rail port facilities that can be used across the country.

As I've argued before, a detection system is necessary but not sufficient to address the threat. A system of detectors, no matter how robust, is essentially a series of nets intended to snare an adversary.

Nets can be avoided, however. A comprehensive preventive scheme should exploit all aspects of the threat: the adversary, his motivations, his capabilities, his financial and human resources, his access to weapons, and his access to the target.

Cross-posted in IPS Blogs at the Institute for Preventive Strategies.