Sandia National Laboratories Develops New Radiation Portal Monitor Design for DHS

Sandia National Laboratories, together with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, has come up with a new design for radiation portal monitors in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s initiative to replace aging radiation detection systems at ports across the country.

The plan is to retire over 1,400 monitors deployed at land crossings, rail crossings, mail facilities and shipping terminals across the country.

The blueprint by SNL and PNNL highlights the use of a modular, open-systems architecture that allows for module or unit upgrades and replacements as new technologies or threats arise.

Radiation monitors based on the SNL design will be incorporated with advanced alarming algorithms for enhanced threat detection, reducing the number of nuisance alarms and the need to conduct a secondary inspection of vehicles and containers, Homeland Preparedness News reported.

According to SNL physicist Will Johnson, the new monitoring technology will be able to scan “cargo and conveyances for radiological and nuclear threats with a greater level of accuracy, resulting in increased protection, decreased costs and reduced delays at ports of entry.”

The redesigned monitors will also be integrated with built-in diagnostic tools, enabling state-of-health monitoring and predictive maintenance. With the simplified upkeep and upgrade of the units, the government is expected to generate savings from reduced lifetime operating costs.

Homeland security is one of the many areas of expertise of SNL. The laboratory also specializes in cyber and infrastructure security, global threat reduction, homeland defense and force protection, global security remote sensing and verification, and asset security and weapons of mass destruction response.