Committee on Advanced Spectroscopic Portals – författare

To improve screening of containerized cargo for nuclear and radiological material that might be entering the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking to deploy new radiation detectors, called advanced spectroscopic portals (ASPs). The ASPs are intended to replace some or all of the current system of radiation portal monitors (called PVT RPMs) used in conjunction with handheld radioisotope identifiers (RIIDs) to detect and identify radioactive material in cargo. The U.S. Congress required the Secretary of Homeland Security to certify that ASPs will provide a ''significant increase in operational effectiveness'' over continued use of the existing screening devices before DHS can proceed with full-scale procurement of ASPs for deployment. Congress also directed DHS to request this National Research Council study to advise the Secretary of Homeland Security about testing, analysis, costs, and benefits of the ASPs prior to the certification decision. This interim report is based on testing done before 2008; on plans for, observations of, and preliminary results from tests done in 2008; and on the agency''s draft cost-benefit analysis as of October 2008. The book provides advice on how DHS'' Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) can complete and make more rigorous its ASP evaluation for the Secretary and the nation.

This letter is the abbreviated version of an update of the interim report on testing, evaluation, costs, and benefits of advanced spectroscopic portals (ASPs), issued by the National Academies'' Committee on Advanced Spectroscopic Portals in June 2009 (NRC 2009). This letter incorporates findings of the committee since that report was written, and it sharpens and clarifies the messages of the interim report based on subsequent committee investigations of more recent work by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). The key messages in this letter, which is the final report from the committee, are stated briefly in the synopsis on the next page and described more fully in the sections that follow. The committee provides the context for this letter, and then gives advice on: testing, evaluation, assessing costs and benefits, and deployment of advanced spectroscopic portals. The letter closes with a reiteration of the key points.

The letter is abbreviated in that a small amount of information that may not be released publicly for security or law-enforcement reasons has been redacted from the version delivered to you in October 2010, but the findings and recommendations remain intact.

To improve screening of containerized cargo for nuclear and radiological material that might be entering the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking to deploy new radiation detectors, called advanced spectroscopic portals (ASPs). The ASPs are intended to replace some or all of the current system of radiation portal monitors (called PVT RPMs) used in conjunction with handheld radioisotope identifiers (RIIDs) to detect and identify radioactive material in cargo. The U.S. Congress required the Secretary of Homeland Security to certify that ASPs will provide a ''significant increase in operational effectiveness'' over continued use of the existing screening devices before DHS can proceed with full-scale procurement of ASPs for deployment. Congress also directed DHS to request this National Research Council study to advise the Secretary of Homeland Security about testing, analysis, costs, and benefits of the ASPs prior to the certification decision. This interim report is based on testing done before 2008; on plans for, observations of, and preliminary results from tests done in 2008; and on the agency''s draft cost-benefit analysis as of October 2008. The book provides advice on how DHS'' Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) can complete and make more rigorous its ASP evaluation for the Secretary and the nation.

This letter is the abbreviated version of an update of the interim report on testing, evaluation, costs, and benefits of advanced spectroscopic portals (ASPs), issued by the National Academies'' Committee on Advanced Spectroscopic Portals in June 2009 (NRC 2009). This letter incorporates findings of the committee since that report was written, and it sharpens and clarifies the messages of the interim report based on subsequent committee investigations of more recent work by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). The key messages in this letter, which is the final report from the committee, are stated briefly in the synopsis on the next page and described more fully in the sections that follow. The committee provides the context for this letter, and then gives advice on: testing, evaluation, assessing costs and benefits, and deployment of advanced spectroscopic portals. The letter closes with a reiteration of the key points.

The letter is abbreviated in that a small amount of information that may not be released publicly for security or law-enforcement reasons has been redacted from the version delivered to you in October 2010, but the findings and recommendations remain intact.