Japan and the United States said Thursday they will launch a cargo-screening project to detect nuclear and other radioactive materials at Yokohama port to prevent nuclear terrorism. Under the U.S.-led Megaports Initiative, the two countries will introduce the joint pilot project as part of efforts to enhance antiterrorist measures and thwart nuclear proliferation, they said. Japan and the United States 'share a common concern for the need to increase our individual and joint efforts to detect, deter and interdict illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive material, including terrorist attempts to disrupt global trade and to abuse commercial shipping to further terrorist schemes,' the two governments said in a statement.
The two governments will set up equipment at Yokohama port, southwest of Tokyo, to detect radioactive materials and exchange data on illicit movements to prevent the smuggling of radioactive materials. Cargo exported to the United States as well as those imported to Japan will be screened to prevent nuclear terrorism in the two countries.
The Megaports Initiative is part of U.S. efforts to prevent inflows of nuclear materials by tightening cargo inspections at the ports of exporter countries. The United States has so far inked similar deals with 27 countries or regions under the initiative, and the cargo screening was implemented by nine of them, including Greece, Singapore and the Philippines, as of May, according to the Japanese government.