How concerned is the government that a terrorist could smuggle nuclear material into the U.S.? Concerned enough that the U.S. Customs Service is quietly installing new technology to better detect radiation at mail facilities, airports, seaports, rail yards and across the U.S. border. The new "radiation-portal-detection systems," costing $100,000 to $150,000 apiece, will supplement current technology, which consists of radiation "pagers" worn on the belts of customs personnel. Containers and vehicles will pass through the devices, which can pick up a wider variety of radioactive emissions than the pagers, from weapons-grade plutonium to medical waste that could be used as shrapnel...
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