Cargo Business Newswire

Thursday, April 10, 2014

U.S. Senator: Nuke threat makes cargo scans worth the money

U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts dismissed critics who say it’s too expensive to scan U.S.-bound container ships for weapons of mass destruction.

"The argument is that the technology doesn’t exist and that it’s too expensive. Of course, that was the same argument that was used to stop the screening of cargo that goes onto passenger planes," said Markey in an interview with Boston Herald Radio. "They fought for years, and finally my amendment passed, which requires all that cargo to be screened. Otherwise, how ridiculous is it to take off our shoes and the bomb could be in the cargo."

Massport started using screening technology to check for nuclear weapons voluntarily in 2004, Markey said, so the capability exists and should be mandatory for all incoming container carriers. The senator is concerned that only that only 5 percent of U.S.-bound cargo containers are scanned.

"An attack at a U.S. port that was nuclear could cause tens of thousands of deaths and a massive global disruption in trade with estimated costs ranging from $45 billion upwards to a trillion dollars," Markey said.

Senator Markey’s 2007 legislation to require the scans was delayed by a two-year waiver enacted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that expires this summer. Markey hopes the waiver will not be renewed.

For more of the Boston Herald story: bostonherald.com