{
  "id": "RL34750",
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      "id": 416048,
      "date": "2010-12-30",
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      "title": "The Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is charged with developing and procuring equipment to prevent a terrorist nuclear or radiological attack in the United States. At the forefront of DNDO\u2019s efforts are technologies currently deployed and under development whose purpose is to detect smuggled nuclear and radiological materials. These technologies include existing radiation portal monitors and next-generation replacements known as advanced spectroscopic portals (ASPs).\nCustoms and Border Protection officers use radiation portal monitors to detect radiation emitted from conveyances, such as trucks, entering the United States. When combined with additional equipment to identify the source of the emitted radiation, radiation portal monitors provide a detection and identification capability to locate smuggled nuclear and radiological materials. The ASPs currently under testing integrate these detection and identification steps into a single process. By doing this, DHS aims to reduce the impact of radiation screening on commerce while increasing its ability to detect illicit nuclear material.\nThe speed of ASP development and deployment, the readiness of ASP technology, and the potential benefits of the ASP program relative to its cost have all been topics of extensive congressional interest. Congress has held oversight hearings on the ASP program since 2006. Additionally, since FY2007, Congress has each year required that the Secretary of Homeland Security certify that ASPs will result in a \u201csignificant increase in operational effectiveness\u201d before DHS can obligate appropriated funds for full-scale ASP procurement. Secretarial certification for use in secondary screening is still pending. Certification for use in primary screening is no longer being pursued. The DNDO states that the secretarial certification and the full-scale production decision will be made separately.\nLaboratory and field tests of the ASPs, cost-benefit analyses, and other activities are under way to inform the Secretary\u2019s certification decision. Among the issues Congress faces are whether to further define the expected performance of the ASP systems through additional legislation; how to assess whether the ASP systems are technologically ready to be deployed; how to weigh the potential economic and security benefits of ASP deployment against its financial cost; and whether the certification process developed by DHS to establish a \u201csignificant increase in operational effectiveness\u201d is well founded.",
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      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc491662/",
      "id": "RL34750_2010May21",
      "date": "2010-05-21",
      "retrieved": "2015-01-27T19:40:46",
      "title": "The Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted an increased federal focus on protecting the United States against terrorist nuclear or radiological attack. Since that time, the federal government has expanded existing programs, developed new programs, and deployed new equipment at U.S. borders and elsewhere. The global nuclear detection architecture has multiple facets, including source security to make acquiring threat material more difficult, intelligence activities, law enforcement activities, and deployment of radiation detection equipment. New technologies have been proposed to replace or augment existing radiation detection equipment and enhance its effectiveness. Primary among these new systems is an improved type of radiation detection device known as the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP). This report provides an overview of the ASP program's history and outlines issues for Congress as the program moves forward.",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Terrorism",
          "name": "Terrorism"
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          "name": "Research and development"
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      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc689278/",
      "id": "RL34750_2009Sep03",
      "date": "2009-09-03",
      "retrieved": "2015-08-03T15:06:47",
      "title": "The Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "This report provides an overview of the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal program's history and outlines issues for Congress as the program moves forward.",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc743526/",
      "id": "RL34750_2009Mar25",
      "date": "2009-03-25",
      "retrieved": "2015-10-20T21:35:54",
      "title": "The Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Program: Background and Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "This report provides an overview of the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) program's history and outlines issues for Congress as the program moves forward.  The ASP is an improved type of radiation detection device, meant to serve as part of new and existing programs to protect against terrorist nuclear or radiological attack.",
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          "id": "National security",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810658/",
      "id": "RL34750_2008Nov17",
      "date": "2008-11-17",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
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  "topics": [
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}