Inaccurate TSA radiation data ‘unacceptable,’ senator says

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Friday said it is "unacceptable" that the Transportation Security Administration has been collecting inaccurate data about the radiation levels of body-scanning technology.
 
TSA began posting radiation data on its website to allay fears that the body-scanner technology is unsafe. The technology became widely used in airports after a Nigerian man was accused in 2009 of attempting to blow up a jetliner with a bomb hidden in his underwear.


TSA released the radiation data Friday while cautioning that some of it was flawed. TSA said it would retest all radiation-emitting equipment that produced inaccurate data.
 
Collins, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, said it was admirable that TSA was posting the radiation data, but stressed that it is important that the agency get the numbers right.
 
"[The TSA chief] and I have discussed at length the full-body scanners, and TSA has repeatedly assured me that the machines that emit radiation do not pose a health risk,” she said in a statement. “Nonetheless, if TSA contractors reporting on the radiation levels have done such a poor job, how can airline passengers and crew have confidence in the data used by the TSA to reassure the public?

“More than one in four reports — randomly selected from thousands of reports over two years and covering 15 airports — included gross errors about radiation emissions,” she continued. “That is completely unacceptable when it comes to monitoring radiation."
 
TSA Administrator John Pistole defended the scanner technology in a statement of his own Friday, though he did not make mention of the inaccuracies that angered Collins.
 
"Independent third-party testing has confirmed that all TSA technology is safe," Pistole said in a statement. "TSA takes significant steps to ensure the safety and health of passengers and our workforce as we work to protect our nation from terrorist threats."