Large Scale
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Some backscatter X-ray scanners can scan much larger objects, such as trucks and containers. This scan is much faster than a physical search, and could potentially allow a larger percentage of shipping to be checked for smuggled items, weapons, drugs, or people.
The "Z Backscatter Van", or ZBV, from AS&E is a mobile backscatter X-ray machine in a van which "from the outside looks like an ordinary delivery van, allowing it to blend in to urban and other landscapes". It is being promoted as a means of examining the contents of vehicles, containers, and dumpsters. Like many of the truck-based scanners, it has an 'arm' that deploys from the van to be able to scan other vehicles passing through.
Other companies in the industry are Smiths Detection and Rapiscan.
There are also gamma-ray based systems coming to market, like the MVACIS.
In May 2011, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed suit against DHS under the Freedom of Information Act, claiming that DHS had withheld nearly 1000 pages of documents related to the Z backscatter vans and other mobile backscatter devices.
Read more about this topic: Backscatter X-ray
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