OSI Systems [OSIS] yesterday said that it believes the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently terminated its contract for airport checkpoint X-ray system due to the use of an X-ray generator that had not been pre-approved by the agency.
OSI Systems said that its proposal for the $67 million Advanced Technology-2 (AT-2) X-ray system contract that it won in September noted the use of the upgraded component, which is made by China’s Shanghai Advanced Non-Destructive Testing (SANDT). However, the company said that while it vetted the X-ray generator internally, it did not obtain TSA approval as required under the contract.
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| Rapiscan’s 620DV AT-2 X-Ray System. Photo: OSI Systems |
Once OSI Systems discovered its error, the company said it reported the fact to TSA along with a plan for corrective action. OSI Systems also said that SANDT supplies X-ray generators to other companies that make X-ray security systems, including its competitors.
TSA is familiar with the SANDT generators, OSI System said.
“According to TSA’s own preliminary test results, the SANDT manufactured generator shows comparable detection capability and false alarm rates,” OSI Systems said.
OSI Systems CEO Deepak Chopra said in a statement that the SANDT generator uses the “same key subcomponents as the TSA-approved generator, but adds some incremental design improvements for the purposes of enhancing reliability.” He noted that the generator’s only output is X-rays.
At the time TSA terminated OSI Systems’ contract for default, the award was under protest by Smiths Detection, a division of Britain’s Smiths Group that had lost the bid. OSI Systems’ Rapiscan Systems division and Smiths Detection supply most of the existing AT X-ray systems to TSA for screening of carry-on bags at airport checkpoints in the United States.