Since the fall of 2001, after the tragedy in America, almost all countries of the world have done everything possible to enhance security at airports. Seaports and land checkpoints at the borders did not go unnoticed. A huge number of cars and containers with cargo passes through them every day. Attackers can use them in order to transport drugs, weapons, smuggling. Manual inspection of the cargo is a long and expensive process that requires the attraction of a huge human resource. For this reason, the search is used only in the most extreme and difficult cases, when there are serious concerns or suspicions about the cargo. To facilitate the work of the customs service and improve the quality of inspection, special tools were created. One of them is the inspection and inspection complex (IDK).
What is idk?
IDK is a special technical tool for customs control, which is used for inspection of all types of vehicles and bulky goods. An inspection and inspection complex in just 5 minutes without opening the container and unloading the car displays an image on the screen that shows what is in the center of the object being inspected, gives a full description and characteristics.
Thanks to the complex, it is possible to identify the transported goods, to detect items that are prohibited for transportation, to conduct an approximate assessment of the amount of cargo carried.
History of creation
The creation of an inspection and inspection complex is a necessary measure aimed at solving the tasks assigned to the customs service. By the way, these tasks were set back in the late 80s of the twentieth century. Back in Soviet times, a resolution was adopted "On measures to develop and organize the production of technical means of customs control, ensuring its effectiveness, reliability and quality." The goal was to create an effective and organized work of the customs inspection system.
In Russia, the introduction of customs inspection systems began in 2002. The experimental complex was introduced at the Brusnichnoe customs crossing, which is located on the border with Finland. Then the mobile version developed by the German company Smiths Heimann was commissioned. After another 3 years, a similar complex was put into operation at the Troebornoye crossing on the border with Ukraine, and later it began to be actively installed at checkpoints with high traffic of automobile cargo.
Types of IDK
Today, thanks to the active development of technologies, several modifications of inspection and inspection systems have appeared, such as:
- stationary;
- easily assembled;
- Mobile
- for control of railway cars;
- to control aircraft containers.
The main classification of inspection and inspection systems by type of radiation:
- equipped with an x-ray source;
- equipped with a gamma radiation source.
By radiation energy they are:
- low energy up to 300 ke;
- an average level of up to 2.5 Me;
- high energy levels over 4 Me.
Each system has its own specific purpose and bandwidth. To understand where and how they are used, you need to consider the characteristics of each individually.
Stationary IDK
These systems help to examine in detail the contents of shipping containers and vehicles. As a rule, such complexes are used at sea customs points. Their throughput is 30 containers per hour. Such complexes require reliable protection against radiation and are installed only in stationary X-ray protective structures.
Easily constructed IDK
They are significantly inferior to stationary complexes in their penetrating ability. They make it possible to obtain information on the conformity of the cargo, which is indicated in the accompanying documents, and make it possible to identify up to 85% of the contents of the containers. These systems are used at automobile points, their throughput is up to 20 cars per hour.
This type of equipment can be placed in prefabricated structures or concrete modules with simplified radiation protection.
Mobile IDK
A mobile inspection and inspection complex is installed on special chassis of the vehicle and requires the assignment of a special sanitary zone. It allows you to obtain information about the presence of cargo in the container, identifies the contents for their compliance with the accompanying documents.
They mainly work with small volume planes. The throughput is about 20 objects per hour. Used by operational units of customs services. In order for the mobile complex to work efficiently and provide the most truthful information, it must be installed on a flat platform along which it will freely move relative to the inspection site.
Other types of IDK
In addition, inspection and inspection complexes for customs services were issued, which allow inspecting railway cars without opening. They help to see on the screen an image of all loaded wagons, make it possible to identify goods, components and assemblies of wagons.
Systems have been created that allow for high-quality inspection of aircraft containers. They allow you to get an image of only a fully loaded container and help to identify goods.
Principle of work of IDK
The stationary inspection and inspection complex uses ionizing rays for verification, thanks to which it is possible to obtain an X-ray image and conduct a qualitative analysis of the car and cargo (even the largest).
The rays penetrate into the object, so you do not need to open the container shell. Rays are returned as a shadow image to the monitor screen. In simpler terms, the x-ray radiation directed from the source passes through the illuminated object, object, protective glass and is visually perceived by the operator as a shadow image.
If the shadow image passes through a special fluorescent screen, then it is converted into a light relief and causes a glow. In this case, the operator perceives it as a luminous shadow image.
Summing up, we can say that the principle of operation of the inspection and inspection complex is based on the property of an X-ray beam to obtain a shadow image of an object pierced through it and cause its glow with the help of fluoroid materials.
IDK device
Almost all types of inspection and inspection systems consist of the following main systems:
- radiating;
- processing and recording received data;
- moving the inspected object;
- processing the received image, managing the received data and ensuring their reliable storage;
- ensuring interaction with other information systems, software UAIS complexes of customs control;
- providing remote viewing of received data;
- control;
- transportation;
- radiation safety;
- electrical power.
All systems are included in the complex and work smoothly, so the information comes to the monitor as reliable as possible and is stored in memory for a certain amount of time.
The main objectives of the IDK
The use of the inspection and inspection complex at customs checkpoints allows us to solve many serious problems:
- increase the volume and level of reliability of information received on the monitor during customs inspection;
- accelerate the volume of goods through checkpoints on the Russian border;
- significantly reduce the time for clearance of goods undergoing customs control, and vehicles;
- high-quality verification of compliance with all information about the cargo indicated in the accompanying documents;
- increase in customs duties to the state budget;
- improving the efficiency of detecting prohibited goods such as weapons, drugs and smuggling that move in violation of applicable law.
Thanks to the inspection and inspection facilities in Russia, the time taken to complete customs clearance (especially bulky goods) has significantly decreased in recent years, and the number of prohibited goods brought into the country has decreased.
Pros of using IDK at customs
After the customs checkpoints were equipped with more modern technology, such as the IDK, customs clearance was not only less tiring - the quality of inspection of bulky goods improved. Thanks to the introduction of the IIK, customs points received a lot of advantages:
- managed to reach the maximum speed of search of trains;
- the throughput of the complexes is high, it can be compared with the equivalent of steel, 460 mm thick;
- it is possible to obtain a radioscopic image of a controlled object of high quality;
- cargo inspection time is reduced several times;
- high quality of recognizable material;
- no need to open the container in order to thoroughly check it for the presence of prohibited goods and to compare objects with the data in the accompanying documents;
- the contents of the container and the list indicated in the documents are automatically reconciled;
- high efficiency of detection of prohibited goods;
- the ability to work with the system remotely, in automatic mode;
- use of equipment in any climatic conditions.
Due to all these advantages, transportable inspection and inspection systems and any other types of systems are actively used and continue to be implemented at all customs checkpoints in Russia and other countries.
The results of the IDK at the customs points of Russia
IDK is a rather expensive technique. Today, 5 stationary systems and more than 40 mobile systems operate on the Russian borders. Over the past six months, thanks to the use of such complexes, it was possible to inspect more than two thousand vehicles and identify more than 500 offenders who tried to smuggle goods that were prohibited for import across the border.
The cost of one complex costs an average of about 100 million rubles, but as the results of the verification show, they justify this cost, since they allow you to quickly recognize even well-camouflaged goods, for example, hidden under the floor or covered with steel. Soon, the number of complexes will be increased at all customs points in order to reduce the time of cargo inspection and improve the quality of customs services.
Conclusion
IDK is an excellent modern development, which not only facilitated the work of customs officers, but also improved the quality of inspection of imported and exported cargo. In addition, it was possible to significantly reduce the inspection time of aircraft containers and railway cars, as thanks to modern complexes, it is possible to conduct a quality check of all contents without opening the container.
Inspection and inspection complexes allowed to reduce the amount of smuggled goods and drugs into the country. The coordinated work of the complex operator allows you to quickly identify the intruder, enter the data into the device’s memory, and then transfer them to higher authorities. All systems are mobile connected to the necessary services, therefore, work on identifying offenders is coordinated. Thanks to systems in recent years, it has been possible to significantly replenish the budget of Russia due to administrative fines issued to violators.