DOE wants ‘second generation’ radiation detectors at seaports

MRDIS concept

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has issued a solicitation for a second generation mobile radiation detection system that can screen cargo containers at seaports for nuclear or radiological materials.

The solicitation seeks a vendor that can provide for testing two units, known as Mobile Radiation Detection and Identification Systems, or MRDIS.

“The MRDIS will be used in a manner that will allow trucks and trailers loaded with containers to drive through so the contents of the containers can be monitored for radioactivity,” explains a statement of work that was issued last August. “While the trucks are driving through, the MRDIS will be parked and stationary. The MRDIS will be driven to locations at the seaport where radiation monitoring is to be conducted.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a unit of the U.S. Department of Energy, issued the most recent solicitation on December 16 and requires responses from prospective vendors by March 1, 2010. Further information is available from Shawna Heaton, contract specialist, at either shawna.heaton@pnl.gov or 509-372-4142.

The quest for an improved radiation detection system is part of DOE’s Megaports Initiative, a program begun in 2003 to screen containerized cargo. That initiative recognizes that “a nuclear or radiological incident at one port could adversely impact nearly every major economy,” explains the lab’s solicitation.

PNNL issued a similar contract for a first generation of these mobile detectors and delivered five units to the Port of Salalah in Oman.

Under the current statement of work, the contractor would be expected to use off-the-shelf components to the maximum extent possible, to provide a system that can interface with the central alarm system software provided by a different PNNL subcontractor, and utilize such government furnished equipment as the TSA-VM-250AGN radiation detection monitor and the ARIS-512 radiation detector from Thermo-Fisher.

A pre-solicitation conference was held last December at PNNL, in Richland, WA. PNNL says it anticipates making an award at the end of April 2010.