The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) last month completed its test of a cargo inspection system developed by Decision Sciences International Corp. (DSIC) that is designed to passively detect and identify shielded and unshielded nuclear materials, yet the company is finding interest from potential customers for the use of the Multi-Mode Passive Detection System (MMPDS) in detecting other items.
DSIC at its own cost deployed its MMPDS system in 2012 at the Freeport Container Port in the Bahamas where it has been operating ever since, scanning 100 percent of containers that enter or exit the port, without interruption. DNDO awarded the company a nearly $3 million contract later that year to conduct a multi-phase assessment of the system, which relies on muon tomography to detect the presence of radiological and nuclear materials inside containers.
Decision Sciences’ MMPDS in March completed the month-long Phase 5 of the DNDO test, the final portion of the system characterization conducted by the Department of Homeland Security agency to assess system readiness and effectiveness for the detection of shielded to heavily shielded radiological nuclear materials, is the only system to have completed the Phase 5 characterization, Jay Cohen, the company’s interim-Chief Operating Officer and a member of its board, tells HSR.
Cohen says that DNDO collected between five and 10 terabytes of data an in for part of the evaluation ran more than 900 “real world” manifested containers that included all kinds of trade goods through the MMPDS in Phase 5 and then put the same containers through a 4MeV X-Ray inspection system that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operates at Freeport for a comparative analysis against both systems. As part of the Phase 5 testing, he says, DNDO occasionally used a “controlled” container that was part of Phase 4 testing and put it into the mix without Decision Sciences knowing of it.
Cohen says the testing enabled DNDO to get “widespread, real world data to see what the clutter looks like…and how an MMPDS compares to X-Ray.”
DNDO’s evaluation is important because of the agency’s forthcoming recommendation to other U.S. departments and agency’s who are considering the acquisition of large-scale scanning systems.
He expects a “quick look message” from DNDO shortly and then an initial report from the agency by the end of the government’s fiscal year and possibly a final report by the end of 2015. The report is important because DNDO “to my understanding is responsible for making recommendations to U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the way ahead for the recapitalization of the over 300 large-scale X-Ray devices that CBP has all around the country and also make a recommendation to the Department of Energy under Megaports and nuclear smuggling protocols for the large scale devices they need to replace or put in place around the world.”
When DSIC began developing and testing the MMPDS, the sole intention was for detecting and identifying both shielded and unshielded radiological and nuclear materials. But along the way the company discovered that its technology and algorithms also detected and analyzed electrons as they interacted with goods inside containers and conveyances, which means the system can be used to detect contraband, explosives and even people that may be hidden, Cohen says.
Potential customers of the MMPDS are interested in the system because of its ability to be used to ferret out illegal smuggling, Cohen says. Customs agencies are there to “collect the King’s tariff,” and smuggling operations attempt to avoid this, he says.
Cohen, who at one time headed up the Science and Technology branch at DHS, says that when he held that job European Union officials told him they believed the lost $5 billion annually due to tobacco smuggling.
“What we’re finding is that nations are coming to us literally every week from around the world now that they know we can demonstrate detection and classification of contraband, including tobacco, including alcohol, including chewing gum,” Cohen says. “Different countries have different interests and to them they want the contraband as well as explosives detection so in and so forth and we throw in nuclear detection.”
The MMPDS in operation at Freeport is the second-generation of the system, which requires temperature controls, but as electronics have improved DSIC has developed a third-generation system that in many locations won’t require any air conditioning, Cohen says. In some cases, say the Persian Gulf region, the newer system may require a sun shade, he says.
The Generation-3 system is also includes algorithms that take advantage of the muon tomography for nuclear detection and the electron interaction for contraband and explosives detection, Cohen says. The company is responding to tenders from government agencies with this system, he says.
Another feature of the Generation-3 MMPDS is that it can be quickly moved to a new location, Cohen says. The company has also developed a smaller form factor of the technology that is being tested in a large van to inspect large parcels that are 2-feet by 2-feet by 2-feet, he says.
The MMPDS can clear a container in 60-90 seconds when no threat is present.
DSIC’s technology has also been used to support the reclamation of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear complex in Japan following an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.