US Scans Incoming Air Cargo

By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY

The Homeland Security Department will put all incoming air cargo through radiation detectors at the nation's airports to try to prevent terrorists from smuggling radioactive bombs into the U.S.

The new initiative aims to close what the 9/11 Commission's final report called a major security vulnerability — cargo on airplanes as a potential avenue for terrorism. Any cargo shipped on passenger planes will also be scanned.

Detectors will begin checking packages this week at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. Arriving cargo — whether from Pakistan or Peoria — will be driven through giant detectors called Radiation Portal Monitors.

Although every piece of cargo will be scanned, "our focus is on the international cargo," says Jayson Ahern of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection division.

There is no specific threat information indicating terrorists are trying to smuggle radiological material into the country on commercial or cargo planes. But Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff says he is concerned about weapons of mass destruction getting into the country by air or by boat. ...