Shipping Container Security
Since the 1970s, shipping containers have become the foundation of the global economy, providing low-cost transportation of goods throughout the world. Standardized containers can be transported via ship, train, plane, and truck, and there are 15 million containers in circulation worldwide, with 10 million container arrivals in the United States every year. Containers carry about $500 billion of goods into the U.S. annually, making containers a key artery for the American economy. Because they are so important to the economy and also so difficult to inspect, containers are a likely vector, or carrier, for weapons of mass destruction, dirty bombs, chemical and biological weapons, illicit materials such as drugs, and people.
Since the global supply chain is held taut by the timely conveyance of containers and just-in-time logistics, it is simply impossible to open and inspect every container that arrives on U.S. soil without a dramatic and adverse impact on our economy. Still, the consequences of a weaponized container could be even more catastrophic. While the physical damage of one or more containers exploding, for example, could be significant, it is the autoimmune response that would by necessity follow the attack that could be especially crippling. Booz, Allen and Hamilton have estimated that a 12-day closure required to locate an un-detonated terrorist weapon at one U.S. port would cost $58 billion. The Brookings Institution determined that costs associated with U.S. port closures resulting from a detonated weapon of mass destruction could amount to about $1 trillion. To combat this threat, NevadaNano has developed a way to inspect the contents of containers without causing delays to established protocols.
To address this we have developed a system we call the C-ScoutTM based on our core microsensor technology and sensor modules. The C-Scout is a low-power, solid-state chemical detection system that measures and identifies vapors given off by toxic industrial chemicals, chemical warfare agents and explosives inside shipping containers. In addition, the C-Scout has the potential to identify certain bio-pathogens based on their vapor signatures as well as human presence (stowaways). The system is designed to analyze the chemical constituents in the air inside a shipping container and use pattern recognition algorithms to make an assessment of the threat posed by a given container.
At the core of the C-Scout is our MAS (Molecular Analysis System) comprised of a Preconcentrator device and our unique SSATM (Self Sensing Array). The patented Preconcentrator module provides the first stage of analysis by collecting molecules from the air, concentrating them and separating them prior to subsequent analysis. The SSA is a solid-state MEMS device based on a microcantilever array sensor with a proprietary coating structure. The SSA is exhibits both small size and low cost, and most significantly is capable of accurately identifying hundreds of vapors of many different vapor types. To learn about other applications for NevadaNano’s unique sensor platform, click here.
The best time for threat detection is prior to loading the container onto a ship, plane, train or truck bound for the United States from a foreign location, though detection at any point along the transportation chain is still valuable. The C-Scout interfaces with the Marine Asset Tag Tracking System (MATTS) to transmit information to wireless hubs deployed throughout the transportation chain (in ports, at highway checkpoints, on shipping vessels, etc). The MATTS system can also communicate via cellular telephone service or satellite for remote transmission of data.
Development of the C-Scout system has been funded thus far by Phase I and Phase II Small Business and Innovation Research (SBIR) grants through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and is currently funded by a Phase III SBIR program administered by the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA). The Phase III program will produce a deployable sensor system unit capable of extensive field trials and life/characterization testing.
The Department of Homeland Security recently initiated a new project called the TRUST Program with the goal of identifying a complete sensing solution for marine shipping containers capable of identifying dangerous cargo in all of the following categories: chemical, explosive, bio, radiological/nuclear, and human cargo. NNTS is aggressively seeking to be a participant in the TRUST program, and is actively seeking partners with complementary sensor technologies as well as a system integrator partner with the experience and motivation to succeed in becoming the primary supplier for this program.