A CONTEXT FOR ASSESSING THE EFFICACY OF A RADIOLOGICAL/NUCLEAR MATERIALS INTERDICTION MISSION AT BORDER CROSSINGS

There is no widely accepted contextual framework for planning, designing, and evaluating systems of protocols and equipment for detecting, intercepting, and deterring transport of high consequence radiological and nuclear threats. The author posits a candidate framework for design and application of a security system for detection and interdiction of these threats at an international border crossing. The author then examines the efficacy of this framework. Results indicate that the use of rarely considered criteria provide a promising framework for a broad community of stakeholders to use in planning, design and application of security system upgrades for high consequence threats in the flow of commerce at a border crossing. Results also indicate that discovery of these criteria can be informed by a model of the geopolitical structure in which the border crossing resides.