The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) last week said it has awarded a $23 million contract to Detector Networks International, LLC (DNI) to design and build six straddle carriers–machines that are used at major seaports to lift and move cargo containers around–that have radiation detection capabilities.
Under the award, New Mexico-based DNI will produce and deliver a prototype straddle carrier equipped with the radiation detectors by September 2009 and five more by September 2010. The carriers are frequently used at seaports to handle transshipments, that is the cargo comes in on one ship, is off-loaded, and then later loaded onto another ship without ever leaving the port.
The modified straddle carriers will be equipped with sodium iodide detectors for initial radiation detection and high purity germanium detectors for isotope identification. The tall carriers can straddle over rows of containers stacked up to four high.
PNNL said that the modified carriers “should be able to maximize the number of containers scanned and still minimize the impact on port operations.” DNI’s teammates on the project are MEI Technologies, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific [TMO], AMETEK‘s [AME] Ortec division, Geodetics and Isoloader.