FS Receives from U.S. Government Equipment to Detect Radioactive Materials

Bratislava, April 19 (TASR) - The U.S. Department of Energy donated to the Financial Administration (the tax office) radiation detection backpacks, vehicle inspection kits, metal detectors, radiation detection pagers, handheld X-ray machines and vehicles with accessories. The equipment, worth almost €1 million, was handed over to Financial Administration head Jozef Kiss on Friday. The ceremony was also attended by US Ambassador to Slovakia Gautam Rana, US Department of Energy Program Director Richard Pappas and head of the Financial Directorate's customs department Milan Jurcina. "Cooperation in detecting illicit trafficking in nuclear or other radioactive material was given a framework in 2006 through a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Department of Energy and the then Slovak Customs Directorate. Since then, the total amount of assistance provided amounts to more than €3.7 million," said FS spokesperson Drahomira Adamcikova. The USA has since donated various technologies to Slovakia. Between 2009-2018, these included mobile detection systems installed in vans, stationary detection gates and monitoring devices for hidden radioactivity in vehicles and trains. In 2015, a new training centre for the detection of illegal transport of radioactive materials was opened at the Slovak-Ukrainian border crossing Vysne Nemecke-Uzhhorod, the construction of which was also carried out with the support of the US government. am