{"47186":{"#nid":"47186","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Improving Homeland Security: ATDC Company Develops New Inspection System","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScanTech Sciences Inc., a new member company of Georgia Tech\u0027s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), has developed an electron beam \/ X-ray that can peer into steel shipping containers and other large receptacles.  Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, experts have warned that a \u0022dirty bomb\u0022 or other threats could be smuggled to the United States via cargo containers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022We generate some of the highest-intensity security inspection X-rays in the world,\u0022 says Dolan Falconer, ScanTech\u0027s chief executive officer.  \u0022Our X-rays can penetrate 14 to 16 inches of steel or the equivalent, so we focus on the big stuff -- 40-foot sea-land shipping containers, railroad cars, semi-trucks, and pallets shipped by air.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nScanTech employs patented techniques that can also be used to sterilize food, pharmaceuticals and other materials.  The ScanTech approach evolved out of the 1980s Soviet defense research program.  In work that was analogous to the U.S. Star Wars program, Russian scientists developed electron accelerators, trying to make them practical as a space-based weapon.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nScanTech has two basic technologies, both of which use a powerful 10-million-volt electron beam.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFor container inspection, a \u0022dual-beam, dual energy\u0022 system uses X-rays of differing spectrums to peer through thick steel walls.  Then proprietary software lets the operator tell whether what\u0027s inside is legitimate cargo or something more sinister, such as explosives or illegal drugs.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022Our software uses the dual energy beams to determine the characteristics of the material in a shipping container and help discriminate what type of material it is,\u0022 Falconer says.  \u0022For example, we will find a \u0027dirty bomb\u0027 hidden in legitimate cargo.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFor sterilization applications, ScanTech uses radiation from a single non X-ray electron beam to kill bacteria or viruses via a heat-free radiation process.  Unlike the cobalt-based devices widely used for food irradiation currently, ScanTech technology uses no radioactive material and offers no residual hazards when powered down.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"An Atlanta-based company is using high-energy electron beams and X-rays to help protect America from terrorism.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2002-10-27 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:45","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2002-10-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2002-10-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.atdc.org\/news\/october252002.html","title":"Anti-terror applications seen"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}