Global Security Newswire

U.S. radiation detection technology is now in operation at the Port of Kingston in Jamaica, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced today (see GSN, June 21, 2006).

The U.S. agency, a semiautonomous arm of the Energy Department, installed the equipment at the Kingston Wharves Limited Terminal to scan import or export cargo for possible nuclear or radiological weapons materials. Additional detectors are scheduled for deployment in fiscal 2010 at the port's similarly high-volume Kingston Container Terminal.

Jamaican customs personnel are set to operate the detectors and deal with alarms, according to a press release.

“The successful start of Megaports [Initiative] operations at the Port of Kingston highlights the shared commitment of the United States and Jamaica to promoting nuclear security by enhancing the security of the global maritime system,” NNSA Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator Ken Baker said in the release. “President Obama has made an unprecedented commitment to preventing the threat of nuclear terrorism by securing dangerous nuclear and other radioactive materials and keeping those materials out of the hands of proliferators and terrorist organizations. This cooperation increases our capability to identify illicit shipments of special nuclear and other radioactive materials and bolsters the worldwide effort to prevent nuclear proliferation and terrorism.”

The Megaports Initiative has fielded radiation detectors at 22 ports around the world, with efforts ongoing at another 20 sites (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release, May 26).