The Department of Homeland Security will begin testing air cargo screening technologies at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as part of its $30 million Air Cargo Explosives Detection Pilot Program.
The purpose of the testing is to better understand the technological and operational issues associated with detecting hidden persons or explosives that could be in air cargo. Tests will focus on assessing the flow of air cargo and how quickly it would be screened, as well astesting for carbon dioxide in cargo, which may indicate the presenceof human beings.
DHS is also funding the development of new systems,such as X-rays, that can screen entire pallets at one time to look for explosives.
