As the radiation portal monitors deployed to ports of entry start to reach the end of their lifecycle, the Homeland Security Department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office will not necessarily replace them with additional, similar monitors.
"Future strategies will not be a one-for-one portal exchange," said Huban Gowadia, acting director of the office, while testifying July 26 before the House Homeland Security subcommittee on cybersecurity, infrastructure protection and security technologies.
DHS began deploying the monitors in 2003 and some are starting to reach the end of their expected service life. DHS officials told (.pdf) Government Accountability Office auditors that they plan to deploy 1,537 such monitors in total and that 95 percent of them are already in place, with the remainder set for deployment by December 2014.
Gowadia said the service life of the monitors "may be significantly longer than originally anticipated," but DNDO is nonetheless studying how to change its mix of monitoring technology.
"We will need cost effective detectors that can be widely deployed and detection systems that can search wide areas, even in the most challenging environments," Gowadia said.
The office released in April a global nuclear detection architecture strategic plan for domestic aspects of radioactive cargo detection that proposed to spend about $1 billion over 5 years, according to Subcommittee Chairman Dan Lungren (R-Calif.).
The office has come under criticism in the past for not focusing enough on radiation detection between ports of entry nor on small maritime ports and air cargo.
According to the GAO, some smaller seaports may not be equipped with portal monitors, and DNDO officials themselves believe that additional portals might be needed in larger ports to avoid creating delays in shipping.
DHS officials have also characterized international rail traffic as one of the most challenging environments for radiation detection, since trains can be up to 2 miles long. The distance required to stop moving trains, the difficulties in separating individual cars out for further examination if warranted and the fact that being more effective would require scanning trains while they're still on Mexican or Canadian soil combine to create challenges.
When it comes to air cargo, DHS has concluded that it can't deploy portals since air cargo lacks natural choke points and there are no procedural or operational changes that could easily overcome that.
During the hearing, Gowadia said her office is "making significant progress" with international rail and air cargo.
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