Kodak had a good writeup on the new CTX scanners on their web
page, and mailed reports on the scanners to their authorized
dealers. They are real, and really do ruin film.
A few points:
They are for *checked* baggage only. They aren't needed for
carry-on bags, because if the low-level scan spots something
suspicious in your carry-on bags, security just has you open them
up to go through them.
Because they're for checked bags, they don't have to worry about a
bunch of the public milling around and sticking their hands in
the machine. There's plenty of room for shielding in the checked
baggage processing areas.
They *do* penetrate lead considerably heavier than any film
shield bag I've ever seen. When I flew Seattle-Denver last
month, I wrapped a roll of Tri-X in 1/8" lead roof flashing and
stuck it in my checked bag as a test -- fogged, very visibly.
It was in there both ways, so I don't know if it was fogged in
Seattle or Denver or both.
Having your film hand-inspected is the safest approach. But with
my low-speed film I was lazy and left it in my carry-on bag
through the X-rays. When they saw all the cartridges they got
suspicious and sent me over to the extra-screening area, where
each film can was tested for chemicals with a swab/fluorescent
test. They wanted to open all the cans and test the film, too,
but agreed not to test the HIE when I showed them the Kodak
warning to open in complete darkness only. I did offer to let
them use my changing bag, but they declined :-)
As long as they were screening me anyway, they wanted to look
through every lens and camera viewfinder to make sure they
weren't filled with something.
Luckily I arrived more than an hour before the flight, because
they were at this for half an hour -- long enough that my keys
and cell phone from the metal detector tray were on their way to
the lost & found before I got done.
--
Josh@xxxxxxxxxxxx is Joshua Putnam / P.O. Box 13220 / Burton, WA 98013
"My other bike is a car."
http://www.wolfenet.com/~josh/
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