By Calvin Biesecker
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has postponed a decision on certifying the cost benefits of new radiation detection portal monitors based on the concerns of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency that would be the primary user of the Advanced Spectroscopic Portals (ASP).
CBP doesn’t have any concerns with the next-generation ASPs but believes more time is needed for the technology to mature, Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner of CBP, told reporters on Wednesday at the agency’s annual trade symposium.
“I don’t think there’s any fault to be pointed in any direction whatsoever. We just need more time for technology like that to mature,” Ahern said.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) selected awarded contracts to three companies to further develop their respective ASP systems, with each company possibly eventually getting production contracts (Defense Daily, July 17, 2006). Those firms are Canberra Industries, which is part of France’s AREVA Group, Raytheon [RTN], and Thermo Fisher Scientific [TMO]. The ASPs are expected to provide better capability at discriminating potential radiation threats from normally occurring radioactive materials, which current radiation portal monitors can’t do. The new technology is also expected to have limited capability in detecting radiation through masking materials, another shortcoming with current systems.
However, the ASP program has come under pressure from Congress and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over concerns that the new technology may not provide enough new capabilities for the cost. In the FY ’07 Homeland Security Appropriations Act Congress required that Chertoff certify the operational effectiveness of the ASPs before the system transitions to full rate production. Just two month ago GAO said that DNDO had rigged tests to make it easier for the ASPs to perform as advertised (Defense Daily, Sept. 19). Vayl Oxford, director of DNDO, said at the time that the testing so far has been rigorous and has demonstrated that the ASPs perform better than current technology and improve efficiency of CBP operations.
Nonetheless, DHS in a new statement for the media said, “Review of the status of field validation testing led to the determination that additional functional capability is needed to meet the operational requirements.” DHS said that now it has decided to couple certification directly with a decision to begin major production and deployment of ASPs.
Chertoff’s certification of the ASP program had been expected this past summer.
In the meantime, DHS said it will continue to deploy current radiation portal monitor systems at the nation’s land and seaports.
How long of a delay in certification is unclear. DHS declined to comment on specifics and Ahern said it would be months.