Madrid, July 17, 2019- Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, announces its participation in the COSMIC European project which aims to develop an advanced inspection system to detect CBRNE threats (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) in shipping containers and ports. The project has received 3,5 million euro funding as part of the prestigious European research funding program, Horizon 2020.
The threat of CRBNE components used by terrorists is a major concern – not only for the European Union, but also for worldwide security. These materials could be hidden and smuggled inside containers or vehicles. Reports show that in the US alone, since 1998, there have been more than 1,300 reported incidents of lost, stolen, or abandoned devices containing sealed radioactive sources, with an average of 250 each year. The challenge of improving container and vehicle border crossing and critical infrastructure entrance security checks is of great importance in fighting terrorist threats, theft and smuggling.
COSMIC proposes an innovative approach for the detection of CBRNE materials allowing fast inspection of a large number of containers and vehicles in seaports and in crossing borders, through a three-stage detection system using a new set of innovative sensors. The idea behind this approach is to create a fast and reliable solution where only non-suspect containers will be released quickly after each stage, and only the suspected containers will continue to the next stage.
