CBRNE | Detection

Varian Medical Systems, Inc. has developed a new X-ray tube designed to operate in security systems capable of generating high resolution detailed images needed to detect threats in airports, military bases, prisons and other secured facilities.

The new Varian MCS-80 tube facilitates the detection of non-metallic items such as ceramic weapons, plastic explosives, narcotics, liquids and other concealed substances.

The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office within DHS wants to acquire two radiological / nuclear detection devices that can be mounted on small boats, for delivery to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA.

Gamma detection modules would be mounted on the port and starboard side of each detector boat, which would range in size from 25 to 45 feet. A neutron detection module would be installed inside the boat’s cabin, according to a set of technical specifications released by DHS on August 31.

The folks at the National Protection and Programs Directorate of DHS are offering voluntary online training to improve security at chemical plants in the U.S. and expect about 400,000 employees in the chemical sector to take advantage of this education program.

If those estimates turn out to be accurate, it would mean that approximately 47 percent of the 850,000 chemical industry employees nationwide would take the online training.

Honeywell announced on September 1 that JoAnna Sohovich, a company executive  who has held positions in several of its business divisions, has been appointed president of Honeywell Security & Communications for the Americas. Sohovich will report to Ron Rothman, president of Honeywell Security Group.

Smiths Detection has announced that the U.S. Marine Corps will shortly begin installing the company’s HazMatID 360 upgrade to its fleet of chemical detectors as part of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Assessment and Consequence Management (MAGTF ACM) program for chemical agent identification systems. The upgrade maximizes system capabilities and performance in the most cost-effective way, says a press release issued by Smiths Detection on August 27.

In mid-2009, a fiber optic fence sensor system was installed on McAllen-Miller International Airport’s perimeter fence. The system, known as Secure Fence, was developed by Future Fibre Technologies and, one year later, the airport’s security department reports that the system has performed impressively.

According to Donald “Buck” Taft, Airport Security Coordinator at McAllen-Miller International Airport, the system was installed in response to security concerns over the number of commercial flights and the airport’s proximity to Mexico.

What do the little-known municipalities of Piegan, Sweetgrass, Sunburst and Havre have in common?

Well, beside the fact that all four are located in the state of Montana, they all had the honor of being visited on August 25 by a distinguished group of federal government officials from Washington, DC, most prominent of whom were DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin.

Six U.S senators have raised questions about the U.S. Marshals Service using body scanning equipment at the U.S. Courthouse in Orlando, FL – and supposedly storing more than 35,000 of those body images -- but the Marshals Service is not backing down yet.

Instead, the Marshals Service has noted that it reports to the Department of Justice, not the Department of Homeland Security (which oversees the TSA and its much-debated use of whole body scanners at U.S. airports), and follows DoJ protocols.

In a recent conversation with Ed Nichols, Vice President of the International Security Conference (ISC) events for Reed Exhibitions, Government Security News has learned that the ISC East show, which has been a mainstay event in New York City for years, will be returning in 2010 with a new name, ISC Solutions, and a whole array of new features for government security officials.

RAE Systems Inc., a supplier of sensor solutions, announced on August 24 that North Carolina Hazardous Material Regional Response Teams (RRT) have added RAE Systems’ AreaRAE wireless toxic-gas-and radiation-detection monitors to their equipment bases for six of their seven regionally placed teams.