Radiation Scanners to be Deployed at U.K. Ports

By the end of next month, the British Home Office plans to deploy 10 mobile scanners for detecting radioactive materials at ports around the United Kingdom, The Scotsman reported today (see GSN, Feb. 22, 2006).

Each scanner deployed under Program Cyclamen costs nearly $700,000.  Each could be used at multiple ports, where they would be driven by suspicious cargo entering the country to check for materials that could be used in a radiological “dirty bomb.”

Three of the scanners are to cover the primary ports in Scotland and northern England.  A fixed radiation monitor is also expected to be installed at the Rosyth port in Fife, the Scotsman reported.

Sources in the Home Office expressed concern that three mobile scanners would not be enough to safeguard Scotland’s 148 ports and 6,000 miles of coastline.  Adequate staffing is also necessary, they said.

“The ports and airports lack cover and they need a permanent customs presence,” a source said.  “You need 24-hour manning, otherwise there’s no point in having this type of equipment.”

“The number of places of entry across Scotland’s coastline is vast,” said Frank Campbell, senior national officer for the union that represents British customs officers.  “People turn the boat away when they find out there’s going to be a crackdown at a particular port.  The mobile scanners are a step in the right direction but you need a physical presence to act as a deterrent” (Tanya Thompson, The Scotsman, Jan. 18).

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