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Investigate Existing Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) Technologies for
Port Cargo Inspections
Principal Investigator: Dr.
Yi Qi
Sponsoring Agency: Southwest
Region University Transportation Center, SWUTC
Collaborator:
None
Period: September
1, 2009 ~ August 31, 2010
Research Abstract:
In US seaports, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are
currently using non-intrusive inspection (NII) technologies to
inspect cargos to identify nuclear materials and other contrabands
in cargo containers. The NII technologies that are currently being
deployed include radiation detectors, X-ray imaging systems, and
Gamma-ray imaging systems. These existing NII technologies have
their own strengths and weaknesses. In addition, recently, there
are more advanced inspection technologies developed, such as
MicroSearch technology that can detect stowaways by detecting a
person’s heartbeat; and Pulsed Photonuclear Assessment (PPA)
technology that can detect shielded nuclear material. Since all
these technologies have their own capabilities and limitations, the
CBP officers need to have the most updated knowledge of these
existing NII technologies in order to make the right decisions in
selecting the proper tools for port cargo inspections. Therefore,
the objectives of the proposed research are to 1) investigate the
capability and cost of currently deployed and newly available NII
technologies for port cargo inspections, and 2) evaluate the
effectiveness and cost of various combinations of available NII
inspection technologies. For this purpose, the research will 1)
review the existing NII technologies, 2) conduct a survey to the
cargo security officers, and 3) use a simulation model to evaluate
the effectiveness and cost of different combinations of NII
inspection technologies.
Research Information
For further information about the research, please contact Dr. YI Qi
by telephone at (713) 313-6809 or by e-mail at
qiy@tsu.edu.
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