Canada plans to deploy a network of remote-controlled detectors capable of scanning city blocks for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials, the Vancouver Sun reported today (see GSN, Aug. 8).
The “Safesite” sensors, designed to identify more than 37 weapons agents, are part of an effort to guard against WMD attacks at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
“It is a fact of reality for this type of event that as much as we can hope nothing happens, there is always a risk," said Henry Buckley, vice president and general manager of Acklands-Grainger, an equipment supplier contracting for the upcoming Olympics. "It's incumbent upon all of us that we are prepared effectively."
Buckley’s firm discussed WMD threats in a recent meeting with security and disaster preparedness officials. While the Safesite sensors are used at the White House and routinely deployed at Super Bowls, the National Defense Department is the only Canadian organization that uses them, the Sun reported.
Al-Qaeda and some extremist organizations are considered threats to the Olympic Games, according to police officials. Al-Qaeda has already identified the 2012 Summer Olympics in London specifically as a target, according to the Sun.
The detection system costs several hundred thousand Canadian dollars; Canada’s provinces and national government are already struggling to address an expanding security budget expected to fall between $400 million and $1 billion in Canadian currency (Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun, Oct. 29).