|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Canada Installs First Port Radiation Detector
As part of a plan to install radiation detectors at all major ports in the country, Canada began operating its first at St. John in News Brunswick two week ago, the Canadian Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 8). “It is the first port in Canada to have the equipment up and running,” said Jennifer Morrison of the Canada Border Services Agency. “It is designed to detect shipments of nuclear or radiological materials entering Canada.” The detectors are part of Canada’s $150 million effort to boost maritime security following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, CP reported. Detectors should be only the first step in blocking radioactive material from entering the country, one terrorism expert said. “They’re looking for radiation and if something is really shielded, there will be no radiation and the stuff will get through,” said Douglas Ross, a political science professor at Simon Fraser University. “You need to X-ray all of the containers as well. If they were doing it simultaneously, using X-rays as well as radiation detectors, then we would be [in] much better shape. But they are not doing the full X-ray of each container as they go through.” Ross said terrorists could look to detonate a nuclear or radiological weapon in Canada to spread fear in the United States. “A blackmail strategy is potentially a real risk,” he said. “We have to take this seriously” (Chris Norris, Canadian Press/Canada.com, Dec. 13).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
