Patent ID: 7030755

Claim:
A radioactive material detection system comprising: a plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses, each apparatus being disposed in or on a cargo receptacle and each apparatus comprising: a wireless transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting information in correspondence with a signal; a radiation sensor having a sensor output, the radiation sensor being configured to detect radiation over a predetermined or commanded period of time; and a detection controller configured to receive the sensor output from the radiation sensor and to send the signal to the wireless transmitter for transmission; and a master unit/master module comprising: a receiver configured to receive the wirelessly transmitted information from each of the wireless transmitters of the plurality of radioactive material detection apparatuses; and a master controller coupled to the receiver, the system being configured to detect fissile or nuclear material that emits radiation by (i) calculating and storing at the master unit/master module an initial average measured radiation level at each radioactive material detection apparatus location and (ii) comparing the current measured radiation at each radioactive material detection apparatus location to the initial average measured radiation level at each location in order to identify an anomaly amongst the plurality of cargo receptacles.