Defending the U.S. Air Transportation System Against Chemical and Biological Threats (2006)
Chapter: Front Matter
DEFENDING THE U.S. AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AGAINST CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL THREATS
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract No. DTFA03-99-C-00006 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Transportation Security Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project.
A limited number of copies of this report are available from the National Materials Advisory Board, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Keck WS932, Washington, DC 20001; (202) 334-3505 or (202) 334-3718; Internet, http://www.nas.edu/nmab.
Additional copies of this report are available from the
National Academies Press,
500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu.
International Standard Book Number 0-309-10074-7
Copyright 2006 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
COMMITTEE ON ASSESSMENT OF SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES FOR TRANSPORTATION
JAMES F. O’BRYON, Chair,
The O’Bryon Group, Belair, Maryland
SANDRA L. HYLAND, Vice Chair,
Tokyo Electron Technology Center, Albany, New York
CHERYL A. BITNER,
AAI Corporation, Phoenix, Maryland
DONALD E. BROWN,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
JOHN B. DALY, Consultant,
Arlington, Virginia
COLIN G. DRURY,
State University of New York at Buffalo
PATRICK GRIFFIN,
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
JIRI JANATA,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
HARRY E. MARTZ, JR.,
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California
RICHARD McGEE,
Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
RICHARD L. ROWE,
Safeview, Saratoga, California
ERIC R. SCHWARTZ,
The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, California
MICHAEL STORY, Consultant,
Los Gatos, California
H. BRUCE WALLACE,
ORSA Corporation, Aberdeen, Maryland
Staff
JAMES KILLIAN, Study Director
TERI G. THOROWGOOD, Administrative Coordinator
NATIONAL MATERIALS ADVISORY BOARD
KATHARINE G. FRASE, Chair,
IBM, Hopewell Junction, Kentucky
JOHN ALLISON,
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan
PAUL BECHER,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
CHERYL R. BLANCHARD,
Zimmer, Inc., Warsaw, Indiana
BARBARA D. BOYAN,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
L. CATHERINE BRINSON,
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
DIANNE CHONG,
The Boeing Company, St. Louis
FIONA DOYLE,
University of California, Berkeley
HAMISH L. FRASER,
Ohio State University, Columbus
JOHN J. GASSNER,
U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center, Natick, Massachusetts
SOSSINA M. HAILE,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
THOMAS S. HARTWICK,
Consultant, Redmond, Washington
ARTHUR H. HEUER,
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
ELIZABETH HOLM,
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
ANDREW T. HUNT,
nGimat Company, Atlanta, Georgia
FRANK E. KARASZ,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
CONILEE G. KIRKPATRICK,
HRL Laboratories, Malibu, California
TERRY LOWE,
Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico
HENRY J. RACK,
Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
LINDA SCHADLER,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
LYLE H. SCHWARTZ, Consultant,
Chevy Chase, Maryland
JAMES C. SEFERIS,
University of Washington, Seattle
SHARON L. SMITH,
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, Maryland
T.S. SUDARSHAN,
Materials Modification, Inc., Fairfax, Virginia
Staff
GARY FISCHMAN, Director
DENNIS CHAMOT, Acting Director (October 2004 to March 2005)
TONI MARECHAUX, Director (to October 2004)
Preface
The Committee on Assessment of Security Technologies for Transportation was appointed by the National Research Council (NRC) in response to a request from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for a study of technologies to protect the nation’s air transportation system from terrorist attacks. The committee judged that the best way to provide a timely response would be to produce a series of short reports on promising technologies, focusing on specific topics of greatest interest to the sponsor. This is the second of four such topical reports, all of which focus on air transportation security.1 The committee believes that the air transportation environment provides a test case for the deployment of security technologies that could subsequently be used to protect other transportation modes as well.
The discovery in February 2004 of the biological poison ricin in a Senate office building in Washington, D.C., highlights the fact that the terrorist’s arsenal now includes not only the all-too-familiar weapons such as small arms and explosives, but also chemical and biological agents. This expanding arsenal demands that policy makers and transportation authorities consider the deployment of new defensive technologies to respond to the new threats. In this report, the committee explores defensive strategies that could be used to protect air transportation spaces (specifically, airport terminals and aircraft) against attack with chemical or biological agents and makes recommendations with respect to the role of TSA in implementing these strategies.
The committee acknowledges the speakers from government and industry who took the time to share their ideas and experiences in briefings at the committee’s meetings. The committee would like to offer special thanks to Jiri Janata and Richard Rowe, who were the major contributors to the writing of this report. The following former committee members also greatly assisted the work of the current committee through their participation in many of its activities: Thomas S. Hartwick, chair through May 31, 2005; Len Limmer, consultant; and Elizabeth H. Slate, Medical University of South Carolina. Finally, the committee acknowledges the contributions to the completion of this report from National Materials Advisory Board director Gary Fischman, consultant Greg Eyring, and NRC staff members James Killian and Teri Thorowgood.
James F. O’Bryon, Chair
Sandra L. Hyland, Vice Chair
Committee on Assessment of Security Technologies for Transportation
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Raymond H. Bittel, The Boeing Company,
John Brockman, Sandia National Laboratories,
Philip E. Coyle III, Science Strategies,
Susanna P. Gordon, Sandia National Laboratories,
Mohamed Sofi Ibrahim, USAMRIID,
Edwin P. Przybylowicz, Eastman Kodak Co., retired, and
R. Paul Schaudies, Science Applications International Corporation.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by R. Stephen Berry, University of Chicago. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests solely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Figures and Tables
FIGURES
|
1-1 |
Generic airport diagram showing various airport spaces and some likely sites for chemical/biological attacks, |
|||
|
2-1 |
The relative potency of toxic gases deployed by updraft application, |
|||
|
2-2 |
The relative potency of toxic gases deployed by downdraft application, |
|||
|
2-3 |
Airflow patterns in a typical passenger aircraft, |
|||
|
2-4 |
Filter removal efficiencies for particles of various sizes, |
|||
|
3-1 |
Operational schematic of continuous chemical sensors, |
|||
|
3-2 |
Operational schematic of discontinuous biosensing system (assay), |
|||
|
3-3 |
Key characteristics of sensor systems, |
|||
|
3-4 |
Typical detection times for chemical and biological agents, |
|||
|
4-1 |
Partial list of chemical/biological detection system developers, |
|||
|
4-2 |
Partial list of technologies being investigated for various stages of chemical/biological detection systems, |
TABLES
Acronyms
DARPA
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DHS
Department of Homeland Security
DOD
Department of Defense
DOE
Department of Energy
ECS
Environmental Control System
HEPA
high-efficiency particulate air
HVAC
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
LCT50
lethal concentration of toxin at which 50 percent of test animals are killed
NRC
National Research Council
NSF
National Science Foundation
PFA
probability of false alarms
POD
probability of detection
PROACT
Protective and Response Options for Airport Counter-Terrorism
PROTECT
Program for Response Options and Technology Enhancements for Chemical/Biological Terrorism
SARS
severe acute respiratory syndrome
SBCCOM
Soldier Biological and Chemical Command
SFIA
San Francisco International Airport
TSA
Transportation Security Administration
TSWG
Technical Support Working Group
UV
ultraviolet
