Congressman requests Megaports review

Congressman requests Megaports review    Rep. Edolphus 'Ed' Towns, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Department of Energy's Megaports Initiative, which loans radiation portal monitors and provides training to foreign governments to check for radiation in ocean containers transiting overseas ports.
   The program's goal is to prevent terrorists from smuggling nuclear materials or weapons through international ports.
   'I am concerned that our ports may be vulnerable to an attempt to smuggle nuclear materials or a nuclear weapon into the United States. The consequences to our national and economic interests could be devastating,' Towns, D-N.Y., said in a statement last week. 'We need to ensure that systems are in place to prevent a future attack on American soil.'
   An earlier review by the investigative arm of Congress raised a number of concerns about the Megaports Initiative, including the lack of a comprehensive long-term plan to prevent nuclear smuggling and difficulties reaching bilateral agreements for high-priority ports to host the non-intrusive inspection technology.
   Towns asked the GAO to determine the extent to which the DOE has implemented the 2005 recommendations and the remaining challenges for program expansion.
   The DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration seeks to equip 100 seaports with radiation detection systems by 2015, scanning about half of global maritime containerized cargo.
   So far, the agency has completed installations in 27 ports and is in the process of installing equipment in 16 more ports.