Andrews Teams Practice Radiation Screening

If you plan to fly your general aviation aircraft to the United States from a foreign country, don't be surprised to see agents walking up to your plane with rather large Geiger counters.

USA Today reports teams at Andrews Air Force Base are working to perfect radiological testing procedures for aircraft, ranging in size from small piston twins to large jets. Agents with the Department of Homeland Security are perfecting ways to scan for radiation emanating from a possible nuclear weapon, or material that might be used to make one, stowed onboard an aircraft.

The four-month, $4 million test program, managed by the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO,) has seen agents test radiation screening procedures on a DC-9 and a Gulfstream bizjet, among other aircraft.

It's all in an effort to address concerns of terrorists bypassing "the traditional ports of entry" to smuggle in weapons of mass destruction, says DNDO chief Vayl Oxford. The stepped-up tests com after DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff ordered all general aviation planes coming from overseas to be screened upon entering the United States, saying such a possibility is a "very real threat."

Security expert Randall Larsen, former professor with the National War College, disagrees. "Scanning in the United States doesn't help" Larsen notes, as a terrorist could always simply detonate a nuclear device overhead. "It's not the best return on investment for preventing a mushroom cloud over an American city."

Efforts are also hampered by the equipment now available to Customs and Border Protection agents. When they began screening efforts earlier this year at 105 smaller airports, they only had shoebox-sized detectors used most often to scan cargo containers. Not only are those devices heavy, there's also some question of how effective they are in detecting small amounts of elements like depleted uranium, barium-133 or cobalt-57, hidden in a seatback or a cargo compartment.

Current procedures call for two agents to scan planes inch-by-inch, searching for traces of radioactive substances. The team at Andrews is working to perfect the process.

Oxford agrees with Larsen, that the best place to scan planes for radioactive elements or explosives is off of US soil. He notes Homeland Security also has similar exercises set up in Ireland, and the Caribbean. A test program is also underway in Anchorage, AK.

It could take years to iron out agreements with foreign governments to allow US agents to scan planes inbound for the US, however... and Oxford says he's most interested in how DHS can "close the front door" to terrorists in the meantime.

FMI: www.dhs.gov