EG&G; Wins Bid for Airport X-Ray System

EG&G; Astrophysics in Long Beach won a $20-million contract to design and construct two X-ray facilities that can spot smuggled goods in aircraft containers. The division of Wellesley, Mass.-based EG&G; will install two systems at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, one of Europe’s busiest airports. The X-ray system can see drugs, arms and other undeclared items in cargo containers up to 26 feet long, 10 feet wide and 11.5 feet high. The combination of vertical and horizontal scanners, detectors and proprietary software can handle up to 30 containers an hour. A similar EG&G; system is used by Chinese authorities at the border town of Huanggang in the Shenzhen special economic zone and inspects 50,000 trucks a year.