Radiation detection equipment to be set up at 8 land ports along India's borders

Radiation Detection Equipment (RDE) will be placed shortly at eight land crossing locations along India's borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal to monitor the trafficking of radioactive materials for probable use in nuclear device fabrication, authorities said.

 

The RDE will be placed at the border checkpoints and land ports of Attari (Pakistan), Petrapole, Agartala, Dawki, and Sutarkandi (Bangladesh), Raxaul and Jogbani (Nepal), and Moreh (Myanmar). The government has awarded a work order for the supply, installation, and maintenance of Radiation Detection Equipment at eight operational ICPs under an agreement signed last year, and the vendor will supply and complete the installation process soon, according to an official familiar with the situation.

The central government has taken the initiative to deploy the RDE in order to monitor the trafficking of radioactive materials across international boundaries. The eight ICPs are recognized to have a significant number of cross-border persons and commodities flows. Smuggling of radioactive material might pose a problem for India's security services since it could be used to make nuclear weapons or radiological dispersal devices, according to another official.

The RDE will be deployed at a drive-through monitoring station where vehicles and their cargo will be monitored.Despite the fact that the flow of persons and products via the Attari ICP has been significantly reduced owing to the present thaw in relations with Pakistan, footfalls in other ICPs are considerable.The RDE might be used by security authorities at ICPs to monitor cross-border goods traffic.

According to the official, the RDE is capable of raising independent gamma and neutron radiation warnings as well as creating video frames of suspicious items. It will also be able to distinguish between unique nuclear material and naturally occurring radiation in fertilizer or ceramics, as well as high-energy gamma isotopes found in recycled uranium. The government is thought to have received technical assistance from a few foreign organizations, particularly those from the United States, in order to install the RDE.