WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Homeland Security Department has missed a self-imposed schedule to prove to Congress that the next generation of radiation detectors will work when deployed at the nation's points of entry (see GSN, June 26).
(Nov. 17) -
A truck pulls through a radiation monitor at a Florida port in 2007. The U.S. Homeland Security Department has fallen behind on its time table for certifying a next-generation detection device (Joe Raedle/Getty Images).
The acting head of the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office said in June that Homeland Security would sign off this fall on two congressionally mandated certifications for the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal monitor system.
"October is kind of our notional date right now," Chuck Gallaway told the House Homeland Security Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology Subcommittee.
A department spokeswoman last week said testing and evaluation of the monitors is "still ongoing."
"Delays in certification have been related to issues of operational ease and reliability -- problems that take time to resolve," spokeswoman Sara Kuban said in an e-mail message. "We created a comprehensive and rigorous program with the end user [U.S Customs and Border Protection] involved in all program decisions."
Department officials have said they hope to deploy 1,400 of the new machines at a cost of roughly $1.2 billion to detect materials that could be used in a radiological or nuclear weapon. The department has already spent roughly $230 million on the effort, with each sensor expected to cost approximately $822,000.
The United States has spent more than $3 billion since 2002 to field devices intended to detect radioactive material being smuggled through border crossings with Canada and Mexico or through seaports. Radiation portal monitors today scan 98 percent of all arriving seaborne container cargo and all vehicles that enter the United States, according to a Homeland Security release.
However, existing technology has several drawbacks, including only being able to detect unshielded or lightly shielded radioactive sources. Alarms can also be triggered by bananas and a number of other commonplace items that contain radioactive isotopes.
The new machines are designed to not only detect radiation but identify the nature of its source. Proponents of the technology claim it could eliminate time-consuming secondary inspections to determine whether a material is dangerous.
Lawmakers in both parties have expressed skepticism about the new devices and argued that the department appeared to be rushing its testing and certification program.
"While I am frustrated over the delays in certification, I believe it is better for us to verify that a technology meets specifications before we spend billions of dollars in taxpayer money to procure it," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a statement today to Global Security Newswire. "I hope DHS can finish its testing in a timely fashion so we can reach an ultimate decision about the program."
Congress increased scrutiny for the advanced monitor program in the fiscal 2008 omnibus spending bill, requiring the homeland security secretary to guarantee that the machines would represent a "significant increase" in effectiveness. Lawmakers asked for two "separate and distinct" certifications: one showing the system improves performance over existing technology as a first line of detection, and a second describing its benefits as a backup to augment existing sensors.
Members of Congress have not been alone in their skepticism.
The National Academy of Sciences stated in a June interim report requested by lawmakers that the government should not purchase any more of the advanced monitors because they are only marginally more effective than existing technology. The Government Accountability Office released its sixth assessment of the effort that same week and found the new devices perform better than existing equipment only when the radioactive material is lightly shielded.
System Testing
The portal monitor's 2008-2009 test campaign moved the program from developmental assessments of the machine's technology to performance exercises and eventually operational tests in real-world situations, according to Kuban.
The campaign included system qualification tests to demonstrate the machines are manufactured to meet government requirements, along with demonstrations at the Nevada Test Site to assess the system's ability to detect a material and pinpoint the source.
The systems were also tested to see if they could identify various substances, including naturally occurring radioactive material, and medical and industrial isotopes in "masking configurations," according to Kuban.
Masking scenarios use other materials and radioactive sources to conceal or change the radiation signature of the threat, she said. For security reasons, Kuban could not disclose the specific masking scenarios employed in the tests.
The test campaign also included integration activities to determine whether the portals are capable of operating in combination with the other border protection equipment, such as software and communication systems.
Customs and Border Protection has completed two rounds of field validation for the system this year and is working to address issues as they are identified, according to Kuban. She did not provide specifics regarding what "operational ease and reliability" issues have been recognized.
Detection office and border protection officials are in discussions to establish ground rules for starting the next period of "tandem" field assessments, in which border officers would operate current systems and the advanced portals simultaneously, she said. Following that the ASP systems would operate only solo field assessments.
The program would then enter the operational test and evaluation phase, which is to be conducted by the Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate's Operational Testing Authority, Kuban said. The testing would measure the ability of the system to meet the needs of an operator.
Kuban did not say when the system's test campaign would be completed. "Each testing event has well-defined entrance and exit criteria that must be met prior to advancing to the next test," she said.
Fiscal 2010
The fiscal 2010 Homeland Security Department budget sets aside $20 million for DNDO acquisition and deployment of radiological detection systems "in accordance with the global nuclear detection architecture." The bill, signed into law Oct. 28, does not specify how much would go toward the advanced portals program.
As was the case in fiscal 2008, the bill stipulates that none of the funds can be used for "full-scale procurement" of the portal monitors until the homeland security secretary submits a report to congressional appropriators detailing the technology's operational effectiveness.
It also reiterates that the secretary must submit two certifications and the department "continue to consult with the National Academy of Science before making such certifications."
A spokeswoman for the National Academy did not return a request for comment by deadline.
Kuban said the department is in "regular communication" with Congress on the status of the program. Homeland Security has also provided an update to staffers for the House and Senate appropriations committees.
A decision on certification "will only be made when it has been determined that ASP will increase the probability of detecting dangerous materials while minimizing operational burdens, not based on a predetermined time line," she said.