Smiths Detection has been awarded a contract with a potential total value, including options, of $222 million by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) to provide next-generation radiation detection and identification systems.

The company will supply its handheld and backpack human portable radiation detection system (HPRDS) to the DNDO for use by emergency responders, border patrol agents, customs and U.S. Coast Guard officers — as well as other law enforcement personnel. The detectors can identify and determine the location of incoming radiation and will discriminate reliably between normally occurring radioactive materials and potential threats.

The DHS has the responsibility to ensure that the United States remains safe from the threat of illicit importation, development or procurement of a nuclear or radiological device. The DNDO was created to help fulfill that mandate. The DNDO was established to improve America's capability to detect and report unauthorized attempts to import, possess, store, develop or transport nuclear or radiological material.

Smiths Detection has provided more than 135,000 portable detection systems of various types to the military, first responders and customs authorities. The company developed this technology through its relationship with Symetrica Ltd., a company that originated at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton in England. Symetrica provides unique technology for the detection and identification of radioactive substances as well as core expertise in the design and construction of gamma-ray detection systems.