Despite numerous reports this week suggesting that the TSA is to buy equipment to test employees for radiation exposure, the agency itself says it has no intention of doing so.
The LA Times reported that the agency was planning to equip its security officers with individual radiation dosimeters, to test the levels of radiation they were being exposed to from backscatter x-ray body scanners.
“After years of rebuffing health concerns over airport scanners, the Transportation Security Administration plans to conduct new tests on the potential radiation exposure from the machines at more than 100 airports nationwide,” the report read.
Details of the tests were reportedly leaked via a request sent to government vendors to provide wearable dosimeters.
However, a post from the TSA’s official blog says that the Times report “missed the mark”
“Why the confusion you might ask? TSA routinely puts out Requests for Information (RFI) that are basically market research, asking industry to tell us what else is out there.” the blog post noted.
“In this case, TSA put out an RFI to gather information on available tools to continue to monitor our technologies. This is simply designed to ask industry what new technology might be available.”
The blog then repeated the claim that the body scanning machines have been tested and approved.
Related articles
- TSA to Test Airport Scanner Operators for Radiation Exposure (truthsupport.wordpress.com)
- TSA Is NOT Planning To Test Employees For Radiation (mountainrepublic.net)
