New Bomb Detection Technology Not Fooled By "Marzipan Effect"

Air Safety Week, Dec 7, 1998

A new tool is available to help airport security officials tell the difference between Christmas puddings and terrorist bombs. During the holiday season last year, there were numerous media reports from Britain that Christmas puddings passengers were carrying as gifts were giving the x-ray detection machines fits - in terms of a high false alarm rate.

Ancore Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., has developed a small-parcel explosive detection system that can be used to resolve these false alarms. Mounted on wheels, it can be throughout the a security area. Ancore President Dr. Tsahi Gozani said in a telephone interview, "It's intended to enhance existing x-ray systems, especially at Christmas time to inspect gifts." His small-parcel explosive detection system, SP-EDS, was designed to detect explosives contained in computers, briefcases, cell phones, portable stereos and even in liquid containers (readers will recall that Pan Am 103 was destroyed by a small bomb concealed in a Toshiba Boombox stereo). Has Gozani's machine been tested against Christmas puddings? "Absolutely," Gozani assured. He said the Christmas pudding problem is an example of "the marzipan effect." Marzipan is a confection of almond paste, egg whites and sugar. Gozani explained that Christmas puddings are close to the density of commercial explosives, hence the tendency of x-ray machines to sound the alarm. "We have a 'material specific' inspection system, rather than shape or density-dependent," he said. "We are searching for explosive materials by looking at elemental composition," he explained. The single-unit price for the SP-EDS is about $150,000, but quantity orders will reduce the unit cost to about $100,000 a piece. Other products are in the works. One is an alarm-clearing device, available next summer, to be attached to all operator-assisted x-ray machines. It will reduce the false alarm rate by "an order of magnitude," Gozani predicts. Also in the works: a large-scale system to inspect all belly cargo, to include LD-3 containers and palletized cargo. This system promises to plug a major breach in the industry's lines of security. Belly cargo presently relies largely on "designated carriers" to ensure that no bomb gets aboard. Essentially, it is a "trust but not verify" system that some experts believe could be exploited by determined and sophisticated terrorists. >> Gozani, tel. 408/727-0607 <<