Jul 18, 2013, 9:11 am
Last edit by: stifle
As and from 22 November 2013, passengers who are selected for a body scan may decline and receive a "private search alternative".
Body scanners are in place or on their way to the majority of major international airports in the UK. As of the end of 2013, they are deployed in LHR, LGW, BHX, MAN, EDI, GLA, STN, LCY, and BFS and were deployed in late 2014/early 2015 to ABZ, BHD, BRS, CWL, EMA, LBA, LPL, LTN, NCL and PIK. Until 21 November 2013, passengers declining a scan once selected were denied passage through the checkpoint and offloaded from their flight. As of 22 November 2013, passengers selected may decline a scan and will be hand-searched in a private room. This search may require the loosening or removal of some items of clothing and the passenger may have a witness present. The passenger's carry-on items will also be thoroughly searched and may be subject to explosive threat detection swabbing. Details of some FlyerTalkers' opt-out experiences can be read in post #606 and #661.
All body scanners in the UK are of the millimetre wave type. Backscatter machines were previously used but withdrawn in 2012. There are 4 models in use: the L3 ProVision, the L3 ProVision 2, the Smiths eqo (which has a passing resemblance to the single-pose Rapiscan backscatter), and the Rohde & Schwarz Quick Personnel Scanner. All use Automatic Threat Recognition software so the result of the scan is immediately visible in the form of a so-called "Gumby" figure on the screen. The passenger and the security clerk will see the figure and any anomalies are outlined with boxes; these areas are then patted down.
Scanners are not used as primary and all passengers pass through walk-through metal detectors in the first instance. In most locations, the scanner is associated with one WTMD and if you trigger this WTMD you will be directed to the scanner. Note that WTMDs in the UK are set to randomly beep with a certain probability (perhaps 15%) even if you have no metal. In some locations, however, the scanner is set back from the checkpoint and security clerks select people based on undisclosed criteria, sometimes after they have already packed up their stuff and put it back in their bags/pockets/etc.
A passenger may, if so inclined, request to be screened by the scanner rather than passing through the WTMD, which one supposes may be preferable to certain passengers possessed of metal implants which they cannot divest.
Historically the chance of being selected for scanning on any given trip was quite low, as there are generally multiple lanes at any given checkpoint but only one or two scanners. This is now changing at non-London airports where the lanes with scanners are used most and non-scanner lanes only opened to handle peak demand, and at London airports where more scanners are being installed. It was also usually the case through 2014 that fast track lanes for premium and status passengers were WTMD only; this is sadly history now.
Unless otherwise stated, the scanners below are located behind WTMDs and passengers beeping the WTMDs are scanned.
Scanner locations per airport:
LHR T1: Closed
LHR T2: Scanners on all lanes behind WTMD, except the very furthest lane from the entrance.
LHR T3: Recent information required.
LHR T4: Recent information required.
LHR T5: Scanners on most lanes behind WTMD. Due to limited space the lanes at either end of north checkpoint and at either end of south checkpoint (but not fast track) are scanner-free.
LGW TN: WTMD + scanner in every lane.
LGW TS: WTMD + scanner in every lane. Sometimes scanners switched to primary.
MAN: Scanners: one per checkpoint, used as secondary screening in lieu of pat-down if WTMD triggered.
EDI: Update needed from new checkpoint
STN: Scanners behind the WTMDs for lanes 7/8 and 15/16.
LCY: Scanners in both checkpoints, used as secondary. Two safe lanes in the old checkpoint (the one with automatic boarding pass scan gates) so use that and try to SDOO.
GLA: Between lanes 3 and 4. Note, fast track normally uses lanes 1 and 2 but you can get unlucky. (Updated 25 January 2014)
BFS: Scanner used as secondary if you trip the WTMD.
ABZ: Information needed
SOU: Scanner behind the only WTMD
BHD, LPL, BRS, EMA, NCL, LBA, LTN, CWL: Information also needed
See also: https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...ty-scanners--2
UK body scanners - opt outs permitted 22 November 2013
Jun 5, 2013, 2:54 pm
#541
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Are there bodyscanners at Eurostar now?
Unfortunately, I have to visit the UK next week. I was planning to take Eurostar to Brussels and fly back from there but there are many reports on "the web" of bodyscanners in London at St. Pancras to board the train.
Are these simply folks who don't know what a scanner looks like? Or am I in for an unpleasant surprise?
Are these simply folks who don't know what a scanner looks like? Or am I in for an unpleasant surprise?
Jun 5, 2013, 3:34 pm
#542
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Last I checked Eurostar was WTMD only.
Last edited by essxjay; Jun 7, 2013 at 4:30 pm Reason: derogatory
Jun 6, 2013, 4:10 pm
#543
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 80
GLA and LHR T5
I am fully aware that MMW scanners are in place at both the aforementioned airports, but I have only recently learnt about the whole "unzipping DNA" thing, and am now panicking as a result. I am travelling with my family (party of 6), one of which is immune-suppressed, to Florida via LHR T5 and I am very concerned in case one of us gets picked for the MMW.
Jun 6, 2013, 11:08 pm
#546
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I am fully aware that MMW scanners are in place at both the aforementioned airports, but I have only recently learnt about the whole "unzipping DNA" thing, and am now panicking as a result. I am travelling with my family (party of 6), one of which is immune-suppressed, to Florida via LHR T5 and I am very concerned in case one of us gets picked for the MMW.
The "unzipping DNA" thing was a headline invented by a journalist at Macedonian Online. He reported, rather badly, on a single research paper.
If you read the original paper (instead of what the journalist tells you he thinks it said), you'll find that a researcher created a computer model (not a physical test on living tissue) that suggested a possibility (not a certainty) that at sufficiently high power (at least a million times higher than that used in MMW scanners) frequencies of about 1000 GHz (which is quite different from the 23 GHz used in airport MMW scanners) MIGHT (not will) set up a resonant behavior which could (in specific circumstances) cause a DNA strand to unravel. Or it might not.
The research article itself is in fact quite cautious (appropriately) in the conclusions it draws (emphasis mine):
Our present finding of large localized openings resulting from an external THz field therefore underscores the importance of including the interactions of genomic DNA with the surrounding environment in DNA models. The amplitudes of the resulting openings observed in the presence of a THz field are significant compared to the dynamic signatures of protein binding sites and transcription start sites [14]. This suggests that THz radiation may significantly interfere with the naturally occurring local strand separation dynamics of double-stranded DNA, and consequently, with DNA function.
And even these very tentative conclusions (about equipment that is quite different from that used in airport scanning) has been challenged by other reputable scientists. (Example here (pdf warning).) There's a nice plain English summary here: http://arstechnica.com/science/2011/...one-radiation/:
Originally Posted by Ars Technica
...But these results really weren't considered definitive because these models rely on a lot of parameters that relate things like how far apart molecules are and what the spring-like potential between them is. A rather suspicious number was the amount of force the researchers calculated was required to melt the DNA. Yet, other parts of the paper seemed to suggest that the DNA melting might occur spontaneously due to thermally generated fields and forces within a cell. It all just seemed a little... forced.
Swanson, from the University of Pittsburgh, decided to investigate the model more thoroughly. He began with the work of Alexandrov and friends, and showed that the bare model would, with the input of a small pulse of radiation, generate vibrational modes that melted the DNA. Having replicated the results of previous work, he then showed that this only happened for a very small parameter range. Indeed, if you simply take into account that different base pairs have different bond strengths, it was enough to damp the oscillations and save all life on Earth.
Having examined the parameter sensitivity, Swanson then looked at the probability, under ideal conditions, of a single skin cell's DNA melting. He came up with a number that is, you know, small: 10**-40 per person per year. I think I will take those odds. He then calculated the amount of force a THz source that fell within legal irradiation limits would apply to DNA and came up 6 orders of magnitude short of the force calculated by Alexandrov and coworkers. And that was under optimal conditions.
Finally, he went on to note that, in a cell, DNA is subject to things like charge screening, which would reduce the force further—not to mention that water is a great absorber of THz radiation. To his considerations, I would also add that, normally, DNA is not free in a cell; it is usually wrapped up tightly in proteins, so it doesn't have much freedom of motion to vibrate. Indeed, it is probably more important to model the response of the protein than it is the DNA.
There is also one aspect to this that seems to have been missed. If the mechanism here would have been realistically possible, it would have been likely to destroy a cell. But dead cells don't carry mutations and thus are unlikely to cause cancer.
Swanson, from the University of Pittsburgh, decided to investigate the model more thoroughly. He began with the work of Alexandrov and friends, and showed that the bare model would, with the input of a small pulse of radiation, generate vibrational modes that melted the DNA. Having replicated the results of previous work, he then showed that this only happened for a very small parameter range. Indeed, if you simply take into account that different base pairs have different bond strengths, it was enough to damp the oscillations and save all life on Earth.
Having examined the parameter sensitivity, Swanson then looked at the probability, under ideal conditions, of a single skin cell's DNA melting. He came up with a number that is, you know, small: 10**-40 per person per year. I think I will take those odds. He then calculated the amount of force a THz source that fell within legal irradiation limits would apply to DNA and came up 6 orders of magnitude short of the force calculated by Alexandrov and coworkers. And that was under optimal conditions.
Finally, he went on to note that, in a cell, DNA is subject to things like charge screening, which would reduce the force further—not to mention that water is a great absorber of THz radiation. To his considerations, I would also add that, normally, DNA is not free in a cell; it is usually wrapped up tightly in proteins, so it doesn't have much freedom of motion to vibrate. Indeed, it is probably more important to model the response of the protein than it is the DNA.
There is also one aspect to this that seems to have been missed. If the mechanism here would have been realistically possible, it would have been likely to destroy a cell. But dead cells don't carry mutations and thus are unlikely to cause cancer.
Jun 7, 2013, 2:10 am
#547
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Jun 7, 2013, 2:39 am
#548
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 80
Yeah I knew that was the case for the journey to the USA, but that isnt the case for the return journey, where you will have to reclear security at T5 north I believe.
Jun 7, 2013, 6:32 am
#553
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There's one scanner around the middle. The problem is that coming from transit and not in fast track, the design of the checkpoint gives you a relatively high chance of being directed into its line.
If you are, remember only those who trigger the WTMD are liable to be scanned, so make extra effort to divest yourself of metal.
Are you prepared to be offloaded and get the train back to Glasgow?
If you are, remember only those who trigger the WTMD are liable to be scanned, so make extra effort to divest yourself of metal.
Are you prepared to be offloaded and get the train back to Glasgow?
Jun 7, 2013, 2:15 pm
#555
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You don't have to pick up your bags to go landside. The south security is being renovated at the minute so the clerks are busy guiding people around the renovations, plus the lane with the NoS is further down.