Detection of Dirty Bombs and Suitcase Nukes.Provisioning Airports with Advanced Warning Systems DALLAS -- ITS Plus, Inc., a technology company with a focus on transportation mobility and homeland security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States , announced that it has completed a live trial to detect the presence of dirty bombs and suitcase nuclear devices at a major US airport. ITS Plus utilized a scintillation/probe radiation detection device to detect gamma and neutron radiation Noun 1. neutron radiation - radiation of neutrons (as by a neutron bomb) ionizing radiation - high-energy radiation capable of producing ionization in substances through which it passes and conducted the trial with the permission of airport police and security departments. The trial provided real-time monitoring of vehicular traffic flow. Over 600,000 vehicles were successfully screened during the month-long trial. "The trial's purpose was to prove that we could utilize long range sensors to detect materials used in dirty bombs and suitcase nukes. It was critical that we do this without setting off any false positives from radiation used in medical treatments such chemotherapy or stress tests," said Michael C. Hutchison, president, ITS Plus. "These nuclear sensors are proactive and can be used to thwart a potential event before it occurs." The detonation of a dirty bomb is a major event and the technology is no more sophisticated than a pipe bomb with a timer. Even a small dirty bomb on a windy day (with a long half-life isotope isotope (ī`sətōp), in chemistry and physics, one of two or more atoms having the same atomic number but differing in atomic weight and mass number. The concept of isotope was introduced by F. ) could shut down a major airport for months, if not years. Unlike nuclear fusion nuclear fusion Process by which nuclear reactions between light elements form heavier ones, releasing huge amounts of energy. In 1939 Hans Bethe suggested that the energy output of the sun and other stars is a result of fusion reactions among hydrogen nuclei. material, such as enriched Uranium Enriched uranium is a sample of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711 % of its weight. or Plutonium plutonium (pl  tō`nēəm), radioactive chemical element; symbol Pu; at. no. 94; mass no. of most stable isotope 244; m.p. 641°C;; b.p. 3,232°C;; sp. gr. 19. , the dirty bomb isotopes are readily available from the medical, food and petroleum industries. Currently no airports in the US have safeguards for this scenario. Disruption of transportation would be on a national and potentially international basis and create serious psychological impact. Should a nuclear event take place, the ITS Plus detectors can assist emergency management personnel in tracking the radiation fallout fallout, minute particles of radioactive material produced by nuclear explosions (see atomic bomb; hydrogen bomb; Chernobyl) or by discharge from nuclear-power or atomic installations and scattered throughout the earth's atmosphere by winds and convection currents. cloud and identify safe evacuation corridors. Although the US Transportation Safety Administration offers excellent controls for entering airport terminals through security checkpoints, these organizations are not equipped for advanced or long range detection of nuclear materials outside of the terminal buildings. About ITS Plus: ITS Plus, Inc. (www.itsplus3.com) provides cameras and communications systems In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and data terminal equipment (DTE) usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole. for remote video monitoring and intersection video stop bar detection. Its sensors enhance public safety for homeland security and intelligent transportation systems. Many of the company's products have been installed in US cities for years. The airport white paper is available on request. |
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