North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: Heathrow scanner experiences?
I believe this is one of the 'backscatter' X-Ray units, where they bounce low intensity x-rays off of your body. The radiation dose is low enough that it does not penetrate your body (in theory, anyway). Joe On 11/19/04 5:11 AM, "Paul Wouters" <[email protected]> wrote: > > [ It is a bit off topic, but I am looking for people who have travelled > through Heathrow lately with the new x-ray scanner, and nanog people are > generally engaged in a lot of traveling ] > > I was just pointed out to this article: > > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/18/blunkett_xray_blank/ > > It says: > > "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what air kerma > rate has been used to assess radiation doses associated with the use of > the Rapiscan Secure 1000 apparatus." David Blunkett's (yes, him again, > sorry about that) response was: "The information sought is not in the > public domain." > > "This would mean that a security scanner would have to deliver 2,500 > scans of an individual annually at 0.1 µSv per scan in order to reach > the US administrative control level of 0.25 mSv. For an airport security > scanner, even operating at a rather higher level, you'd probably have > to be living in it to achieve that kind of level." > > I went through Heathrow a few weeks ago, and was luckilly selected as > a winner and destined to test these new Rapiscan boxes. I was informed > it was an X-ray scanner, but with a very low dosage, the equivalent of > being in an airplane for 11 minutes. Ofcourse only later did I realise > that if these shots take 0.5 seconds, I was getting a dose 2*11*60= > 1330 times the dose of the backgorund radiation of being in a plane. I > wouldn't be suprised if those 11 minutes were per shot either. But at > the time, I was more curious then worried. > > The machine looked like a big wall. I needed to stand in front of it, > without jacket, arms and legs spread, torso turned. Two shots were > made with me turned in both positions. A third shot was made when I > was standing straight, exactly like a criminal. Legs slightly spread, > arms up. I then asked to the officer if they were storing these scans, > and what they actualy showed. He then offered me a look behind the scene > (and screen). A second officer was there, looking at a monitor that > still showed my third shot. I saw myself from behind, 'naked'. I was quite > suprised that this technology could actually render me naked. I could see > where I have body hair and where not. From a technological point of view > quite an achievement. (There was a second scanner, but I am not sure if > those were run by women, and whether they only picked women or not) The > officer further told me this was meant to scan for objects on the body, > and that the images were not stored. They did not ask me for my passport, > so I don't think this information is cross checked or stored. I also read > on an earlier news article that the person seeing the monitor cannot > see the person in real life, which is meant to 'reduce' the privacy > invasion. The person seeing you 'naked' never sees the real you. > > I forgot about the scanner and walked into the secure shopping mall, > and checked for books. About five minutes after the scan, while I > was not even thinking about the scanner anymore, I suddenly felt very > nauseous all over. I then felt a sharp pain in my lower right abdomen > which dissipated in the next minute. The nausea passed as well. > > I am a bit worried, and I did Google around, but found no other people > reporting the same. I did not go back to the scanner, since I couldn't > reach the insecure area anymore. > > I wondered about the pain. AFAIK there are no vital organs on the > right side. The liver, spleen and 'alvleesklier' (?) should be more > to the left or lower. The only thing on the right side is the end of > your intestines. That made me think that in fact they might have used > a higher dose or a more targeted scan to check deeper into my body for > hidden drugs or explosives or whatever. > > I'd love to hear from anyone else who has gone through this scanner and > what their experience was. > > Paul -- Joe McGuckin ViaNet Communications 994 San Antonio Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 Phone: 650-213-1302 Cell: 650-207-0372 Fax: 650-969-2124
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