Recent developments in the VACIS gamma radiography systems

摘要

The VACIS-I prototype system, which has been used at U.S.-Mexico POEs for cargo truck and railroad freight- car inspections, has served as a seedbed for other vehicle inspection systems that are cost-effective, transportable, high-speed, reliable, and utilize very low level radiation exposure. The STAR (stolen automobile recovery) system has been developed and successfully tested at Miami, Florida. Its status and further developmental possibilities are discussed. VACIS-II, the high-resolution (0.5 inches versus 2 inches for VACIS-I) system that scans the entire cargo truck, including the van, is capable of conducting normal as well as oblique scans in 1 1/2 minutes. Railroad VACIS, dubbed SENTINEL, which will scan railroad cars entering the U.S. at about 5 mph is now under development. It has the option of utilizing a Co- 60 source for inspecting heavier cargoes. In addition, MOBILE VACIS is in the planning stage. As presently envisioned, it will be mounted on a small vehicle with an extendable detector tower and deployable gamma-ray source to scan a suspect vehicle, either a passenger car or cargo truck, for contraband. The state of development of these systems, as well as some of the options and concerns, are presented.