NORFOLK, Va.-Customs and Border Protection (CBP), as part of a larger purchase of new high-energy container inspection X-Ray systems, is expected to supply two of the systems for use at the Port of Virginia for improved container security.

CBP currently operates two mobile VACIS systems supplied by Science Applications International Corp. [SAI] at the various port facilities in the Hampton Roads area, but that equipment is aging, Mark Laria, the agency's port director in the area, tells TR2. The new high energy systems that the port will be getting will provide a better picture of a container's contents, which means fewer times that inspectors will have to open a container and physically search it, he says.

"The better the picture, the more we can base our risk decisions," Laria says.

The new systems, which will also be mobile, are being supplied by Smiths Detection as part of a new contract with CBP (See following story).

The port currently has two VACIS systems. Laria isn't sure whether he'll be able to keep those once he gets the new high energy systems but he says typically CBP doesn't take them away. If he does keep the VACIS systems, Laria says they will likely be assigned to a specific terminal in the area.

The high energy HCV Mobile systems, because of the amount of radiation they give off during a scan, do require a sizeable restricted area to conduct operations. Laria says real estate isn't an issue where he plans to operate them in the Virginia ports.

For its current operations, CBP typically has containers that have been flagged to be scanned lined up in an established staging area where the VACIS systems drive by to do the imaging. A CBP officer drives the mobile system while another officer sits in the rear of the vehicle and analyzes the images on a computer screen. Each container only requires seconds to be scanned but the analysis of the imagery can take upwards of 30 to 40 minutes per container depending on the image clarity, whether a container may need to be opened, or if additional research needs to be done on the importer.

Some times CBP officers will operate the VACIS system closer to where containers are being offloaded based on risk assessments done by CBP through its Automatic Targeting System (ATS) or because a large number of containers coming off a ship were flagged to be scanned, Laria says.