Body scanner tests begin in Rome
Airport security machines 'safe and convenient', say officials
04 March, 15:24
(ANSA) - Rome, March 4 - Italy began experimenting with its
first airport body scanner on Thursday kicking off a trial
period for the new security devices adopted after the failed
Christmas Day bomb attack on a transatlantic flight to Detroit.On a ribbon-cutting visit to Rome's Fiumicino airport, where the scanner was installed last month, government officials reassured reporters that the machines were both safe and convenient. "Our research has determined beyond a shadow of a doubt that the rays emitted by body scanners pose no health risks at all," said Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio.
The scanners, which use high-frequency electromagnetic waves to look beneath clothing for concealed bombs and weapons, have stirred fears that they could cause cancer or be otherwise harmful to the human body.
Also present at Fiumicino airport, Transport Minister Altero Matteoli said the devices would help eliminate long lines at security checkpoints.
"At first I was concerned that the scanners would make the waits even longer," Matteoli confessed.
"But what we've seen so far suggests they'll actually be a time saver," he said, explaining that they would cut down on secondary checks performed when passengers set off the metal detectors. As for the concerns that the detailed, three-dimensional images produced by the scanners represented an invasion of personal privacy, civil aviation chief Vito Riggio stressed safeguards in the screening process were designed with that in mind.
He said the scanners would not be operated by the same personnel carrying out body searches at security points and that the scans would be immediately destroyed after viewing.
Riggo also added that during the four to six month trial period, going through the scanners would be optional.
"We're experimenting with these machines in order to protect people. If they were harmful or violated their rights, we wouldn't be using them," he said.
Italy is among the first European countries to try out the new scanners following a request by the US government to install them in hubs with flights across the Atlantic. During the trial period, which is expected to last into the summer, the civil aviation authority says it will be looking at two different types of scanners.
One, like the scanner installed at Fiumicino, beams electromagnetic waves through passengers while the other scans for natural radiation produced by the body.
After deciding which yielded the best results, Riggio said the government would buy around 15, at a total cost of two million euros, for use on "sensitive" international flights to the US, Britain and Israel.
Photo: Images produced by body scanners.
