Avoiding the closure of ports during a national emergency

Abstract

The likelihood of a terrorist organization obtaining and transporting a nuclear weapon to the U.S. is considered by many to be low, but the threat is real and the consequences are potentially catastrophic. If such a situation were to occur, what would the response of the United States be? This paper emphasizes that closing all ports of entry would cost billions of dollars and that to mitigate such costs the U.S. should have in place mechanisms and equipment capable of clearing containers from nuclear weapons, so ports of entry can continue to operate, even if at reduced volumes. Allowing goods into our country would keep factories running, emergency facilities operational, and medical supplies and other humanitarian help flowing, making our nation more capable of responding to such a crisis. The paper explains one approach for keeping our ports open. It describes the use of a technology called Effective Z in 3D (EZ-3D™) whereby a sea cargo container would be automatically inspected to locate high Z anomalies (characteristic of nuclear materials and/or shielding) within a minute. Simultaneously, a second technology called “Prompt Neutrons from Photo fission” (PNPF) would automatically clear the container from having fissionable material. The container could be allowed into the country if no fissionable anomalies are detected. If a container is found to have anomalies or an alert related to fissionable material is produced, a third technology called Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence (NRF) would be used. NRF can examine the anomaly by measuring the isotopic content of the materials in the regions of interest and resolve any alert or ambiguity via material identification.