Radiation detection an arduous task at ports

Radiation monitoring equipment scans every container that enters the U.S for any traces of radioactivity. This process has been going on for about a year now, with about 500 alarms going off in one day at the Long Beach Port, many of which are false. A driver who was bringing a container in for inspection was the cause of the false alarm, because the scanners detected radiation that Francisco Villalpando (truck driver) had received ten days earlier. Detections are not one hundred percent reliable: Plutonium and highly enriched uranium have low levels of radiation, therefore shielding material, such as lead may mislead the scanners or be unable to be detected at all. Also, normal cargo, like granite counter tops and ceramic vases puts out gamma radiation. Many representatives also believe that this form of inspection is somewhat a distraction from many other problems that cross borders: "If we can't catch people and drugs coming across our border, I have no confidence that we can create a seamless security perimeter for nuclear weapons" (Holgate 1).
Although radiation monitoring is quite costly, it is obviously not completely reliable. I believe that having detectors at cross borders are crucial and necessary but at the same time it rises the question of whether or not we are concerned about smugglers that cross borders into America.

Vartabedian, Ralph. “Radiation detection an arduous task at ports.” Los Angeles Times: Science 25 Nov. 2007. 26 Nov. 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-detectors25nov25,1,4533702.story?coll=la-news-science&ctrack=1&cset=true