JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - Jersey City has become the nation's first seaport to use new radiation detectors that scan all incoming cargo for nuclear or radiological weapons, federal officials said Monday.
Similar devices are planned for 90 percent of the country's seaports by the end of summer, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner.
"The best way to prevent a terrorist attack is by preventing terrorists or terrorist weapons from entering our country in the first instance," Bonner said at the Global Marine Terminal in Jersey City.
Several million cargo containers - about 95 percent of U.S. international trade - enter the United States every year through its 361 sea and river ports. Since Sept. 11, many people have worried that terrorists might use the containers to sneak biological weapons or other arms into the country.
Previously, only about 8 percent of the cargo containers at Global Marine Terminal were examined for signs of radiation because the process was done by hand, said Richard O'Brien, the port's deputy chief inspector
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