Public Intelligence

The system tested was the Secure 1000 manufactured by Rapiscan Security Products, Inc., Hawthorne, CA. The system was received by CDRH for testing on 3/29106 and had the following identification markings “Serial No.: S701201213″, “Date: May 2001 “. The label also included the following statement: “Each scan cycle from this system produces 3 microRem of x-ray radiation emission. This value is comparable to the radiation exposure all persons receive each five minutes from naturally occurring radioactive materials in the air and soil.” The system tested included a back plate and floor panel. The back plate was measured to be 153 cm wide by 242 cm high. When positioned against the floor panel the back plate surface was at approximately 89 cm from the front surface of the Secure 1000 cabinet.

TSA security screening equipment briefing including whole-body imaging equipment, June 27, 2007.

Some US scientists warned Friday that the full-body, graphic-image X-ray scanners now being used to screen passengers and airline crews at airports around the country may be unsafe. “They say the risk is minimal, but statistically someone is going to get skin cancer from these X-rays,” Dr Michael Love, who runs an X-ray lab at the department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry at Johns Hopkins University school of medicine, told AFP. “No exposure to X-ray is considered beneficial. We know X-rays are hazardous but we have a situation at the airports where people are so eager to fly that they will risk their lives in this manner,” he said. The possible health dangers posed by the scanners add to passengers’ and airline crews’ concerns about the devices, which have been dubbed “naked” scanners because of the graphic image they give of a person’s body, genitalia and all.

Approximately $266 million in ARRA funds will be used to deploy state-of-the-art checkpoint screening equipment including Advanced Technology (AT) X-ray, Bottled Liquid Scanners (BLS), Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), Chemical Analysis Devices (CADs), and Next-Generation Explosive Trace Detectors (ETD).

OSI Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIS), a vertically-integrated provider of specialized electronic products for critical applications in the Security and Healthcare industries, today announced that Deepak Chopra, Chairman and CEO, was selected to accompany US President, Barack Obama, to Mumbai and attended the US India Business Entrepreneurship meeting, which was held by the US India Business Council (US IBC). The goal of the meeting was to promote further trade between US and India. Deepak Chopra, OSI Systems President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “I am honored to be selected to play a role in this very important cause. Currently the trade between US and India is only one tenth of the amount of trade between US and China. There is substantial opportunity to improve the trade relations with India for mutual economic gain.”

Pilot unions at two of the nation’s largest airlines are advising their members not to submit to body scanners at airport security checkpoints as tension grows over what they see as intrusive or risky checks. Unions representing pilots at American Airlines and US Airways have advised their more than 14,000 members to avoid the scanners, which peer beneath clothing, and instead get a pat down from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers. That has created additional problems as some pilots have complained that the hand searches, which were altered by TSA starting Nov. 1, are invasive. One US Airways pilot said he felt as though he had been “sexually molested” by the pat down, said Mike Cleary, president of the US Airline Pilots Association. “Our members are just absolutely outraged,” Cleary said.

This Presidential Report from the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) has been prepared at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA has the responsibility for regulating the manufacture of electronic products that emit ionizing and nonionizing radiation and is working with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has the responsibility of providing security measures for transportation activities. The FDA asked the NCRP for advice on radiation protection issues concerning exposure to ionizing radiation from radiation-producing devices used for non-medical security purposes. These devices, particularly x-ray scanning systems, are being evaluated by various agencies (e.g., U.S. Customs Service and TSA) for use in security screening of humans. The use of such scanning devices involves a broad societal decision that needs to be made through appropriate procedures by the authorities utilizing the x-ray producing electronic products (and other types of ionizing radiation producing systems) as a security device for screening humans. This report provides an evaluation of radiation levels, radiation risk, and radiation protection measures that should be taken into consideration by implementing authorities. However, the NCRP cannot render an opinion of the net benefit of using these devices based on the ionizing radiation aspects alone.

A novel wideband millimeter-wave imaging system is presently being developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) that will allow rapid inspection of personnel for concealed explosives, handguns, or other threats. Millimeterwavelength electromagnetic waves are effective for this application since they readily penetrate common clothing materials, while being partially reflected from the person under surveillance as well as any concealed items. To form an image rapidly, a linear array of 128 antennas is used to electronically scan over a horizontal aperture of 0.75 meters, while the linear array is mechanically swept over a vertical aperture of 2 meters. At each point over this 2-D aperture, coherent wideband data reflected from the target is gathered using wide-beamwidth antennas. The data is recorded coherently, and reconstructed (focused) using an efficient image reconstruction algorithm developed at PNNL.

Chertoff Group, LLC is a registered corporation in the State of Delaware formed on February 2, 2009. The firm is lead by Chertoff and Chad Sweet, who served as Chertoff’s Chief of Staff during his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security. Mr. Sweet worked in the CIA until the early 1990s, when he began a career in investment banking. He initially worked at Morgan Stanley and was later recruited by Goldman Sachs. Mr. Sweet spent six of his twelve years in finance in overseas assignments. He returned to public service after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which he personally witnessed while working at Goldman Sachs in New York.

The path toward rolling out wider use of whole-body security scanners in U.S. airports runs through the White House. The failed Christmas Day attack aboard a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner has created congressional calls for greater use of body scanners that advocates say would have detected non-metallic items such as the explosives an Islamic militant from Nigeria is accused of smuggling on board. Dutch authorities said on Wednesday Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, where the Nigerian suspect made a connection, will begin using full-body scanners within three weeks.

U.S. President Barack Obama could expedite such a deployment because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) don’t need legislation from Congress to start using the devices at any of the 560 U.S. airports with scheduled airline service.

Current use is limited to a 19 airports and is optional — passengers can choose to undergo a pat-down instead.