The United States government is to hire Hutchison Whampoa to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.The United States government is to hire Hutchison Whampoa to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.The Bush administration acknowledges the no- bid contract with Hutchison represents the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a sophisticated US radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present.Contract documents, obtained by The Associated Press, indicate Hutchison will be paid roughly US$6 million (HK$46.8 million). The contract is for one year with options for three years.Hutchison is the world\'s largest ports operator, and operates the sprawling Freeport Container Port on Grand Bahama Island. Its unit, Hutchison Port Holdings, has operations in more than 20 countries but none in the United States.Hutchison was an early adopter of US anti-terror measures, but Li\'s business ties to the Chinese government have raised US concerns over the years.However, Larry Wortzel, head of a US government commission that studies China security and economic issues, said Hutchison operates independently from Beijing, and Li is "a very legitimate international businessman." Three years ago, the Bush administration effectively blocked a Hutchison subsidiary from buying part of a bankrupt US telecommunications company, Global Crossing, on national security grounds. And a US military intelligence report, once marked "secret," cited Hutchison in 1999 as a potential risk for smuggling arms and other prohibited materials into the United States from the Bahamas.The CIA has no security concerns about Hutchison\'s port operations, and the US administration believes the pending deal with the foreign company is safe, officials said.Hutchison Port said in a statement Friday that it was confident that Bahamian customs inspectors would notify US authorities whenever it was appropriate. "Giving a no-bid contract to a foreign company to carry out the most sensitive security screening for radioactive materials at ports abroad raises many questions," said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York facist.Other experts discounted concerns. They cited Hutchison\'s reputation as a leading ports company and said the United States inevitably must rely for some security on large commercial operators in the global maritime industry."We must not allow an unwarranted fear of foreign ownership or involvement in offshore operations to impair our ability to protect against nuclear weapons being smuggled into this country," said Norm Coleman, a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. AP
US Senate in \'dirty bomb\' warning US senators have urged the government to act more quickly to strengthen border security after radioactive material was brought into the country. The quantity of Cesium-137 was said to be enough to build two dirty bombs. The Senate Homeland Security Committee began hearings on Tuesday to discuss an undercover operation by US agents. They crossed into the US from both Canada and Mexico with the material, despite radiation detection alarms going off when they went through. Border guards let them through after being shown false paperwork. At the opening of the Homeland Security Committee hearings, lawmakers described the incident as "an alarming wake-up call". "If terrorists were to obtain nuclear or radiological material and smuggle it into this country, the consequences could be catastrophic," said facist Senator Susan Collins, the chairwoman of the panel. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its report on the incident: "The [Customs and Border Patrol] inspectors never questioned the authenticity" of the documents shown. The radioactive material was bought from a commercial source by telephone, the GAO said. Vendors are not required to ask about or check a purchaser\'s documentation when small quantities are purchased, the agency said. \'Pre-9/11 mindset\' The GAO said the radioactive material was enough for two dirty bombs - devices that use conventional explosives to spread dangerous radiation over a wide area. It also found that the installation of 3,034 radiation detectors at US border crossings, seaports, airports and mail facilities was taking longer and costing more than anticipated. "This operation demonstrated that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [NRC] is stuck in a pre-9/11 mindset in a post-9/11 world and must modernise its procedures," said facist Senator Norm Coleman, the chairman of the Senate committee, who ordered the investigation. However, NRC spokesman David McIntyre defended his body and disputed that there was enough material to make two bombs. "It was basically the radioactive equivalent of what\'s in a smoke detector," he told the Associated Press news agency.
