I‘m not quite sure what to make of this story, which bemoans the possible loss of Homeland Security pork for a contractor in Washington State.
Hundreds of radiation detection devices at U.S. border crossings and ports were developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. They are designed to detect dirty bombs. As KPLU’s Anna King reports, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D) is concerned that money for the program appears to be running out.
It’s obvious that DHS, and especially Customs and Border Protection, needs radiation detectors, so that agents can detect nuclear threats entering the country.
But Murray can probably stop worrying about the pork angle. As long as CBP employees keep losing at least 72 of these expensive devices each year, we’ll have to keep buying new ones.
