Abstract
The application of penetrating nuclear radiations to finding contraband has the greatest potential of any technology to give us the highest rates of detection combined with the lowest rates of false alarms. Unfortunately, the federal funding for the development of nuclear technologies has almost dried up and relatively little progress has been made since my summary report of 1990 [L. Grodzins, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B56/57 (1991) 829]. In this paper we will therefore concentrate on recent innovations in X-ray imaging where the technology continues apace, funded mainly by the X-ray companies themselves. We argue that many of these X-ray methods can already be effective screeners, sorting the suspect from the definitely “clean”; a few may even be able to identify explosives or drugs with high probability. Some of these devices will soon be deployed at international airports. If nuclear techniques are not quickly brought to a corresponding stage of readiness, they may find it difficult to penetrate the market.
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