The latest generation of high-tech weapon detectors are coming to the Portland International Jetport.
In the coming months, the Transportation Security Administration will begin installing three “advanced imaging technology” scanners at the Jetport’s new security screening checkpoint.
The machines coming to Portland bounce electromagnetic waves off passengers and create images that can show potentially threatening metal or plastic objects. The scanners will also use new software that the TSA says should ease passenger privacy concerns.
“It’s the best available technology in the world, designed to detect metallic and non-metallic threats, such as plastic explosives,” said Ann Davis, a TSA spokeswoman in Boston. “The equipment screens passengers safely and efficiently without physical contact.”
The TSA has deployed some 510 of the scanners at 92 of the nation’s roughly 450 commercial airports since 2007, and plans to install another 500 at U.S. airports, including the Jetport, in 2012.
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