U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Thursday that no planes entering the U.S. from Japan have tested positive for radiation at harmful levels, and there is no increased number of positive radiation readings on passengers.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, is screening fliers and cargo entering the U.S. from Japan for “even a blip of radiation,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.
For a number of years, Customs and Border Protection personnel have routinely used small hand-held personal radiation detectors, or PRDs, to screen air passengers arriving in the U.S. from international destinations, according to agency officials.
If the PRD denotes a “hit” — registers the presence of radiological material — passengers are screened a second time using more sensitive radiation-isotope identification devices, or RIIDs, “to determine both the presence and type of radiation encountered,” Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
Many travelers register the presence of radiological materials because of medical treatments they’ve undergone, and RIIDs help distinguish medically related radiological exposure from that coming from other sources, officials said.
Customs and Border Protection handles more than half a million radiation alarms a year, many related to medical procedures.
More than 10,500 PRDs are carried by Customs and Border Protection officers and agents nationwide, and the agency has more than 500 of the RIIDs.
If passengers arriving from Japan begin to alarm the hand-held PRDs with greater frequency, federal customs officials are expected to route more officers and equipment to overly taxed facilities so processing times for arriving passengers do not get too long.
The radiological testing of travelers was instituted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, along with large-scale Radiation Portal Monitors that are used to screen vehicles and freight shipments, including maritime cargo containers.
Officials said there have been reports of radiation being detected on some air-cargo shipments from Japan arriving at U.S. airports, including those in Chicago, Dallas and Seattle.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
