Detection of Nuclear/Radiation Threats
on Transportation Systems

A recent example of our experience includes the development and deployment of an Unconventional Nuclear Warfare Defense (UNWD) system at Camp Lejeune, NC, under contract to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). In response to the Defense Science Board's (DSB's) recommendation to deploy protection systems at key military installations, in just 7 months, ARA assembled and led a fully integrated team, including experts from the national laboratories (SNL, LANL, LLNL, and RSL), 11 subcontractors, and 13 consultants to purchase, modify, and install a complete test bed system to demonstrate radiation detector capability. Additionally, close coordination with the North Carolina Department of Transportation was essential to obtain the required permits because a number of detectors were deployed at roadside locations up to 25 miles from the base perimeter. Additionally, this effort linked several modes of communication to existing infrastructure to support timely command and control decision-making. The system is integrated with the Camp Lejeune 911 Center, and planning is underway to duplicate the MCBCL 911 center display and system control at the Onslow County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The system's installation at the EOC will complete the military and local civilian partnership to provide situational awareness, early threat detection, and interception by law enforcement agencies prior to the base's perimeter or off-base areas of higher population density. Coordination assistance and CONOPS development is being provided by the Military Civilian Task Force for Emergency Response (MCTFER), which includes personnel from eighty local, State, and Federal agencies currently involved in managing the response to any terrorist event or other major emergency involving Camp Lejeune and/or environs. All hardware and software was (and continues to be) qualified and validated by our test personnel in Raleigh, NC, and Albuquerque, NM, before deployment. (We were the first to detect and discriminate potentially threatening radiation sources moving at highway speeds up to 70 mph.)

Our demonstration used a combination of open source and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software, including 28 detectors, 26 cameras, communications systems, and command and control support in an open architecture to detect, track, and provide situational awareness in one display for approaches by road, railroad, water, and on foot (see figure 2). ARA developed custom software components that we integrated with COTS and open-source components to enable radiological detection and isotope identification at highway speeds, and to achieve the required systems integration. The Camp Lejeune operational test bed employs an open and expandable architecture that enables easy assimilation of all CBRN sensors with integration of reach back capabilities to enhance effective response and consequence management. Other sensors have successfully been integrated into the ACRS and now provide a chemical and biological attack component to the system capability. Additionally, leaps in software sophistication now enable us to confidently say we can integrate future sensors such as high explosive sensors into the system once they are mature enough for fielding.

Key features of the Camp Lejeune test bed project include:

• Sensors to detect, discriminate, and track fissile material transported over land, rail, and water routes by unconventional means. The Camp Lejeune test bed is the first test bed to identify radioactive isotopes at highway speeds.
• A dedicated and seamless wireless and wired communications network linking sensor suites to a single integrated command and control and display system. The Camp Lejeune communications network is designed to be rapidly expandable and capable of handling hundreds of sensor nodes transmitting real-time sensor data and video imagery from a wide geographic region.
• The ACRS for situational awareness, threat interdiction, and response planning. The ACRS receives data from the remote sensors and cameras for threat surveillance, analysis, identification, tracking, and event logging. The ACRS integrates multiple sensor, camera, and auxiliary security information systems into a single display system that responds automatically to threat events.