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Radiation Detection Equipment (RDE) will soon be installed at eight land crossing points along India’s borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal to check the trafficking of radioactive materials for its possible use in making nuclear devices.
The Eight Locations
The RDE will be installed at the Integrated Check Points (ICP) and land ports of Attari (Pakistan), Petrapole, Agartala, Dawki and Sutarkandi (all of them located near the Bangladesh Border), Raxaul and Jogbani (Nepal) and Moreh (Myanmar)
The work order for the supply, installation and maintenance of the RDE at the eight operational ICPs has been awarded by the government to an agreement executed in 2022, and the vendor will supply and complete the installation process shortly, an official privy to the development said.
Rationale Involved
The central government has taken the initiative to install the RDE so that the trafficking of radioactive material across the international border can be checked. The eight ICPs are known to have a sizeable number of cross-border movements of people and goods.
Any smuggling of radioactive materials could be a challenge for Indian security agencies as it could be used for making the nuclear devices or radiological dispersal devices. Moreover, X-rays and metal detectors are inept in detecting radioactive materials, isotopes etc
Functioning
The RDEs will be installed in drive through monitoring station that monitors trucks and their cargo. It will have the ability to differentiate between special nuclear material and naturally occurring radiation in fertilisers or ceramics as well as high energy gamma isotopes which are an attribute of recycled uranium.
The government is believed to take technical help from a few foreign agencies-including those from the United States of America (USA) in installing the RDE. An official familiar with the development said “The RDE is equipped to trigger separate gamma and neutron radiation alarms and generate video images of suspicious objects.”
What is RDE?
Radioactive Detectors also called particle detectors are instruments designed for the detection and measurement of subatomic particles. These subatomic particles can be electrons, protons, neutrons, alpha particles, gamma rays and numerous baryons.
Previous Attempts
The Indian government, in the past has introduced the system of radiation detection. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, India installed a full body truck scanner at the Attari Border. The device is basically an X-ray of the truck to detect any smuggling of arms, ammunitions and any other radioactive materials.
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