SubscribeCurrent aviation security checkpoints are effective at detecting the majority of threats.
Since 9/11 many weaknesses have been addressed and there is no doubt that security has improved since then. One area where there is still room for improvement is the screening for threats concealed on the person.
Secure 1000 Deployment
The Secure 1000 was identified as the most suitable equipment for people screening, since it detects a wide range of threats (metal, explosive, plastic or ceramic), allows anomalies or alarms to be resolved using high quality images and is practical to operate indoors in relatively confined spaces due to its compact size with no need for external illumination sources or large, noisy support equipment.
Addressing Privacy Issues
Rapiscan Systems has developed a range of software and imaging options to help address privacy and embarrassment concerns. Early in the implementation, a lower resolution image with electronic masking of sensitive areas was selected.
By changing the nature of the images however, the detection capabilities of the system are also affected. For example, one approach is to reduce image quality to an extent that private areas of the human anatomy are less apparent in the image; this reduces the ability to perceive real threats and creates potential hiding places for threat concealment.
In the course of using the system in the airport environment however, it quickly became apparent that privacy and embarrassment were not major issues for the public or the operators and that public safety was best assured using the full resolution images provided by the Secure 1000. Not far into the deployment, the full resolution imaging capabilities were restored in order to provide the greatest opportunity for threat detection.
In practice, as opposed to changing the nature of the images produced by the system, privacy concerns were addressed using a number of procedural steps:
- Passengers have an opportunity to see example images from the system.
- Passengers are then given the choice of a Secure 1000 scan or a pat-down search.
- Male screening staff are used to screen males and female screening staff are used to screen females.
Operators never see the person whose image they are screening Monitors are obscured such that only the operator and no one else, public or airport staff, see the images. Image archiving is disabled, preventing future review of stored images.
Addressing Safety Issues
The Secure 1000 X-ray dose is very low, the lowest of any X-ray personnel screening system, with a typical dose well under 0.1 micro-Sieverts and a maximum X-ray energy of 50keV. Numerous bodies around the world have approved the Secure 1000 as safe for public use. The system complies with UK HSE, UK NRPB, US FDA, ANSI, US NCRP, ICRP, UNSCEAR standards.
• In both the UK and the US the Secure 1000 has been approved for at least 2500 scans per person per year with no need for any administrative controls
Some comparisons of this dose are given in the table:
Typically passengers are told the dose from the Secure 1000 is less than the background dose when flying at 30,000 feet for 5 minutes (it is significantly less). Pregnant women and women who think they may be pregnant as well as children under 16 are hand searched instead of receiving a scan. There is no physiological reason for this but it is seen a sensible way of handling potential passenger concerns.
The system is configured such that operators are not exposed to direct X-rays when they operate the system. Leakage and scattered X-rays around the machine and in the main beam at distances of greater than 2m from the system are at such low levels that they are undetectable.
