SWUTC Research Project Description
Title of Project: Investigate Existing Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) Technologies for Port Cargo Inspections
Project Number: 161042
Principal Investigator:
Yi Qi
(713) 313-6809
P.I. Affiliation: Texas Southern University
Project Monitor:
Yuko J. Nakanishi, PhD, MBA
Nakanishi Research and Consulting, LLC
(347) 512-1959
Project Status: Active
Date Started: 9/1/09
Estimation Completion Date: 8/31/10
Estimated Cost - Current Fiscal: $20,000
Estimated Cost - Total Planned: $20,000
Project Summary:
Project Abstract:
In US seaports, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are currently using non-intrusive inspection (NII) technologies to inspect cargoes to identify nuclear materials and other contrabands in cargo containers. The NII technologies that are currently being used include radiation detectors, X-ray imaging systems, and Gamma-ray imaging systems. These existing NII technologies have their own strengths and weaknesses. In addition, there are more recent advanced inspection technologies developed, such as MicroSearch technology which detects stowaways by detecting a person’s heartbeat; and Pulsed Photonuclear Assessment (PPA) technology that can detect shielded nuclear material. Since all these technologies have their own capabilities and limitations, the CBP officers need to have the most updated knowledge of these existing NII technologies in order to make the right decisions in selecting the proper tools for port cargo inspections. Therefore, the objectives of the proposed research are to 1) investigate the capability and cost of currently deployed and newly available NII technologies for port cargo inspections, and 2) evaluate the effectiveness and cost of various combinations of available NII inspection technologies. For this purpose, the research will 1) review the existing NII technologies, 2) conduct a survey of cargo security officers, and 3) use a simulation model to evaluate the effectiveness and cost of different combinations of NII inspection technologies.
Project Objectives:
The objective of this research are to 1) investigate the capability and cost of currently employed and newly available NII technologies for port cargo inspections, and 2) evaluate the effectiveness and cost of various combinations of available NII inspection technologies. To achieve these objectives, the research will:
Task Descriptions:
Task 1: Conduct Literature Review
The purpose of the first task is a thorough review and synthesis of the state-of-the-practice on part cargo security. The areas to be reviewed include:
Emphasis will be placed on the newly available NII technologies.
Task 2: Survey or Interview of Cargo Security Officers
This task is to survey or interview cargo security officers to seek the information about the general process for port cargo inspection and the NII technologies that are currently employed for cargo inspection. Following are some typical questions that will be asked during the survey or interview:
Task 3: Compare the Capabilities and Costs of Available NII Technologies for Port Cargo Inspections
This task will compare the capabilities and costs of the currently employed and newly available NII technologies for port cargo inspections based on the results of literature review (task 1) and the survey/interview (task 2). Their strengths, limitations and applicable situations will be analyzed. These NII technologies will be grouped into different categories based on their detection capabilities. In each category, the technologies that have more limitations (such as higher cost or longer inspection times) will be eliminated from further evaluation.
Task 4: Simulate the Cargo Inspection Process with the Use of Different Combinations of NII Technologies
Discrete-event simulation tools such as Arena can be used to simulate the inspection process. These tools use the Monte Carlo discrete-event simulation paradigm that allows programming to simulate the cargo flow under different types of inspection strategies with different types of inspection technologies. The simulation tool will be used first to create a base case simulation without the incorporation of any NII technologies; however it will require a brief physical inspection. After that, the simulation with different combinations of NII technologies will be conducted based on the information collected during the survey/ interview/literature review. The major input to the simulation models will be the following:
The model output will include:
Each simulation will run for a period of 1 year.
Task 5: Evaluate the Performance of the Different Cargo Inspection Methods Based on the Simulation Results
In this task, based on the simulation results, each NII inspection technology will be evaluated in combination with other technologies to determine which combination or combinations results in the lowest cost and time required, as well as the greatest detection coverage of various threat materials. A range of detection rate will be incorporated into the simulation for each NII technology, however very little data is available on the detection rate of NII technologies, therefore it will not play a pivotal role in the overall evaluation.
Task 6: Document Research Results and Findings
The purpose of this task is to produce documentation on all research findings from Task 1 to Task 5. A final report which details the work performed, methods used, and results achieved will be developed.
Index Terms: