Since 2007 the Big Apple has been experimenting with a program designed to detect "dirty bombs" and other radiological threats. In theory it would allow law enforcement to sniff-test every vehicle headed into Manhattan, using large-scale radiation sensors on tunnels and bridges and portable sensors on the belts of thousands of police officers. But after three years and $53 million, the equipment has yet to prove itself, say two congressional investigators who requested anonymity discussing a sensitive matter. The small sensors register false alarms for cat litter, bananas, and people undergoing radiation treatment, say the investigators, and the large-scale sensors are still in development because they require a nuclear isotope that the U.S. no longer produces.
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