The notice, posted last week, said applicants had to be able to offer equipment for testing within 30 days, and would be entitled to expedited designation under the Safety Act, which protects the producers of qualified anti-terrorism technologies from being sued if they do not work.
.
Billions spent so far on explosives detetction technology and they can't find a stick of dynamite in checked-in luggage, in the cargo hold of an international flight <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-26-dynamite-traces_x.htm?csp=34>, so they'll just have to spend the money more wisely... DHS seeks liquid explosive screening tech http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060827-052839-8824r WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The Department of Homeland Security is seeking information from the makers of technology that could detect liquid explosives at airport screening checkpoints. "It is (the department's) goal to investigate any and all potential detection technologies that may assist in the identification of explosive and flammable liquids," said homeland security in a solicitation notice. The department's Science and Technology Directorate said it needed equipment which could work on "full or partially full bottles of any shape and color made from glass, plastic, paper or other materials which are typically found in the marketplace and passenger stream of commerce," and could handle at least 200 bottles an hour. The notice, posted last week, said applicants had to be able to offer equipment for testing within 30 days, and would be entitled to expedited designation under the Safety Act, which protects the producers of qualified anti-terrorism technologies from being sued if they do not work. Liquid explosives have been at the center of aviation security concerns since British police arrested 24 people earlier this month. They have since charged 11 in connection with an alleged plot to smuggle liquid explosives on board transatlantic passenger planes and blow them up. Simultaneously with the arrests, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration banned all liquids and gels on U.S. flights. Officials have said the ban will likely have to remain in force until some way of effectively screening liquids is found. --30-- U.S. spent $9.2 billion on secrecy in 2005 http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060827-042951-7547r WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. government spent more than $9.2 billion last year keeping things secret. That represents a 13 percent rise over the previous year, and the soaring expense fell disproportionately on the private sector, where the costs to government contractors and other companies of meeting government-mandated security standards nearly doubled. The figures are contained in the 2005 annual cost estimate from the Information Security Oversight Office, the government agency that oversees the national security classification system. It includes the direct costs of deciding which information should be classified, and all the associated expenditure -- the system of personnel clearances, office security systems, special computer networks and other facilities -- incurred by both the government and industry. In 2004, the total estimate was $8 billion, but of that just $823 million was incurred by the private sector. Those costs nearly doubled in 2005 to $1.6 billion, whereas government costs over the same period rose from about $7.2 billion to roughly $7.7 billion. The figures were first reported by government transparency advocate Steven Aftergood, who runs the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy. As Aftergood pointed out, the figures do not include the estimated costs incurred by the CIA, because it has declared its cost data classified. --30--
