§ 981. Pilot integrated scanning system

(a) Designations

Not later than 90 days after October 13, 2006, the Secretary shall designate 3 foreign seaports through which containers pass or are transshipped to the United States for the establishment of pilot integrated scanning systems that couple nonintrusive imaging equipment and radiation detection equipment. In making the designations under this subsection, the Secretary shall consider 3 distinct ports with unique features and differing levels of trade volume.

(b) Coordination The Secretary shall—

(1) coordinate with the Secretary of Energy, as necessary, to provide radiation detection equipment through the Department of Energy’s Second Line of Defense and Megaports programs; or

(2) work with the private sector or, when possible, host governments to obtain radiation detection equipment that meets both the Department’s and the Department of Energy’s technical specifications for such equipment.

(c) Pilot system implementation Not later than 1 year after October 13, 2006, the Secretary shall achieve a full-scale implementation of the pilot integrated scanning system at the ports designated under subsection (a), which—

(1) shall scan all containers destined for the United States that are loaded in such ports;

(2) shall electronically transmit the images and information to appropriate United States Government personnel in the country in which the port is located or in the United States for evaluation and analysis;

(3) shall resolve every radiation alarm according to established Department procedures;

(4) shall utilize the information collected to enhance the Automated Targeting System or other relevant programs;

(5) shall store the information for later retrieval and analysis; and

(6) may provide an automated notification of questionable or high-risk cargo as a trigger for further inspection by appropriately trained personnel.

(d) Report Not later than 180 days after achieving full-scale implementation under subsection (c), the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State and, as appropriate, the Secretary of Energy, shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees, that includes—

(1) an evaluation of the lessons derived from the pilot system implemented under this subsection;

(2) an analysis of the efficacy of the Automated Targeting System or other relevant programs in utilizing the images captured to examine high-risk containers;

(3) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the integrated scanning system in detecting shielded and unshielded nuclear and radiological material;

(4) an evaluation of software and other technologies that are capable of automatically identifying potential anomalies in scanned containers; and

(5) an analysis of the need and feasibility of expanding the integrated scanning system to other container security initiative ports, including—

(A) an analysis of the infrastructure requirements;

(B) a projection of the effect on current average processing speed of containerized cargo;

(C) an evaluation of the scalability of the system to meet both current and future forecasted trade flows;

(D) the ability of the system to automatically maintain and catalog appropriate data for reference and analysis in the event of a transportation disruption;

(E) an analysis of requirements, including costs, to install and maintain an integrated scanning system;

(F) the ability of administering personnel to efficiently manage and utilize the data produced by a nonintrusive scanning system;

(G) the ability to safeguard commercial data generated by, or submitted to, a nonintrusive scanning system; and

(H) an assessment of the reliability of currently available technology to implement an integrated scanning system.

(Pub. L. 109–347, title II, § 231, Oct. 13, 2006, 120 Stat. 1915.)