Narrator:    This is Science Today. Engineers and scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a radar-based device that will improve the security of cargo containers during shipment. Kique Romero of the Lab's Technologies Division says if a breach occurs at any point during transit, the device called SecureBox, generates alarm reports to authorized individuals anywhere along the supply chain, which is a boost for homeland security.

Romero:    Because we face threats of weapons of mass destruction and cargo containers are potential means to getting those stateside and you'd be able to know whether there's been an intrusion before you get into an intradiction zone after which it's too late - the container's arrived with the weapon in the United States. It's too late.

Narrator:    The device itself is very simple, off-the-shelf technology that resembles a circuit board.

Romero:     One of the key benefits of the Lawrence Livermore technology is that it's a very low power sensor. Basically, on a set of C-cell batteries, it can run three to four years, which is in market contrast to a lot of the other technologies out there.

Narrator:     For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.