The United States plans to install equipment at Sri Lanka's main port of Colombo by early next year to detect radioactive material as part of a world-wide drive to combat smuggling of ingredients for dirty bombs, the US embassy in Colombo said on Wednesday.
A team of engineers from the US Energy Department's so-called "MegaPorts" initiative is visiting Colombo to study what kind of equipment to install and where at the busy trading hub next to the Sri Lankan capital's business district.
"The goal is to have a set of radiation detection equipment in place that can scan containers," said Dean Thompson, head of economic affairs at the US embassy in Colombo. "We would hope things would be up and running some time early next year."
"The fact that it's a very busy port in South Asia, has a lot of trans-shipment and is one of the major ports around, indicates why it is of interest," he added.
The Indian Ocean island off the toe of India will be the first port in Asia to go live under the programme, which targets a host of the world's busiest ports, including the likes of Rotterdam and Hong Kong. The United States will supply the detection equipment.
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