Good news: “backscatter” ionising radiation airport scanners to go

Bye-Bye to the Rapiscan Backscatter Machines The Atlantic, James Fallows, JAN 18 2013, Good news from our friends at TSA: they are getting rid of the hated (by me) Rapiscan “backscatter” screening machines like the one shown at right. These are the scanners in which you stand between two big, opaque boxes, raise your hands, and have X-rays shot at your body. The systems measure the “backscatter” radiation that reflects back from hard and soft surfaces on your body and clothing. Radiation in such backscatter systems is much weaker than medical X-rays, which are of course meant to go right through your body. Still, it is ionizing radiation, which is guilty until proven innocent in terms of possible health effects.

The TSA had decommissioned about one third of its Rapiscan systems already and now will get rid of the rest. Details from BBW and, with additional tech details, from Wired…….

The full-body screeners the TSA will now use are the “millimeter wave” scanners …These I un-complainingly go through, although I am always darting my eyes around in search of a metal-detector-only line. (TSAStatus gives you crowdsourced info on what kinds of scanners are being used in different parts of different airports.) I don’t mind the millimeter waves systems because, based on all the science I’ve heard of, the electromagnetic waves they use — essentially, radio waves — are innocent until proven guilty when it comes to health effect. (For a more skeptical view of the L-3 systems, see Lisa Simeone’s TSA News Blog.)

The TSA appears to have pulled the plug on Rapiscan principally because of concerns about privacy rather than about health. In specific, Rapiscan could not meet the TSA’s schedule for designing new Congressionally mandated privacy-protecting software. For my money, passage of such a mandate should raise Congress’s approval rate from about 12% all the way up to 14% or 15%. Whatever the impetus, this is a positive step….. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/bye-bye-to-the-rapiscan-backscatter-machines/267331/

January 19, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, USA

1 Comment »

Thank you for covering this.

I don’t believe the “official” story that it’s a privacy issue. I believe it has to do with radiation and cancer.

I read every press release to figure out what’s really going on, and found this from Associated Press:

“The contract to change the software on the scanners came under scrutiny in November when the TSA delivered a “show cause” letter to the company looking into allegations that it falsified test data, which the company denied. On Thursday it said final resolution of that issue needs approval by the Department of Homeland Security.

The agreement with the TSA is an indication that OSI Systems will be cleared of the issues raised by the agency…”

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIRPORT_SCANNERS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-18-11-51-13

Did you catch that?

*** ALLEGATIONS THAT THE COMPANY FALSIFIED DATA !!

*** THERE HAS BEEN AN AGREEMENT THAT OSI SYSTEMS WILL BE CLEARED OF THE ISSUES.

Does this sound like some type of deal was made?

Also,

1. the scanners are going to be tested by the National Academy of Sciences

2. OSI CEO is a friend of the present pres.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/21/body-scanner-ceo-obama-india/

Comment by Guest | January 20, 2013 | Reply

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