The governments of the Philippines and the US have formally inaugurated an upgrade of radiation detection equipment designed to further increase security measures at the Port of Manila, the country's premier trade gateway.
The upgrades have been installed at Asian Terminals (ATI)'s South Harbor and the International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI)'s Manila International Container Terminal. A joint ceremony was held at the ICTSI Harbor Lounge attended by port officials and representatives of the Filipino and US governments.
The radiation detection systems are part of the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Megaports Initiative to deter, detect, and interdict illicit shipments of nuclear and other radioactive materials that might pass through international gateways such as seaports. The US government has contributed US$26 million for setting up the facility in the Philippines alone. The DOE has deployed Megaports equipment in 38 major seaports worldwide to date.
In 2005, the DOE signed a memorandum of intent to implement Megaports in the Philippines. Manila is a key port in South-East Asia, and one of the major feeder ports for Singapore, China and Japan. The Port of Manila is the first site in the Philippines to become operational. The Megaports Initiative will install the radiation detection equipment at the Port of Cebu next.
The Megaports Initiative is part of the DOE's Second Line of Defense (SLD) program, which works collaboratively with foreign governments at land border crossings, airports, and seaports to install radiation detection equipment and associated communications equipment.The SLD Program also provides training to host government officials to operate systems that detect smuggled nuclear and other radioactive materials.
