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In between two hangars, near planes used to transport heads of state and military cargo, agents from the Homeland Security Department are searching every cranny of a DC-9 and a Gulf Stream jet.

They are looking for what security officials say could be the components of terrorists’ deadliest weapon yet: radioactive and nuclear material that could be used to make bombs.

The agents’ work is part of a four-month, $4 million test to see if the government’s radiation-detection equipment can pick up depleted uranium and other radioactive material hidden aboard passenger planes.

Vayl Oxford, who runs the department’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), says agents began radiation screening of private planes at the start of the year amid concerns that terrorists could try to “bypass the traditional ports of entry,” such as airports and border crossings where security systems are in place.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff calls it a “very real threat” that terrorists could smuggle a weapon of mass destruction into the country on a private plane.

Source - USA Today -Read More