Decision Sciences International
San Diego, CA, United StatesIndustry
Decision Sciences makes Discovery, a passive muon and electron tomography cargo scanner that produces 3D images through dense shielding and is designed to detect shielded nuclear material and contraband without ionising radiation.
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Decision Sciences International Corporation makes the Discovery cargo and vehicle scanner, which uses naturally occurring cosmic-ray muons and electrons to produce three-dimensional images of container contents without emitting radiation. The technology originated at Los Alamos National Laboratory and was licensed by the company, whose chief executive said in 2014 that its origins date to 2006, when investors saw the Los Alamos work.
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A full-size test article followed in August 2011 and an operational system was installed in Freeport, Bahamas about a year later. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California; earlier releases give Chantilly, Virginia.
Its materials are aimed at border, port and customs screening. In September 2012 it announced a research and development contract with an estimated value of 2.7 million dollars from the Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, for government testing of its Multi-Mode Passive Detection System.
In 2014 its chief executive also described a completed Department of Defense programme, with the counterterrorism technology support office, testing detection of explosives and other contraband. In December 2025 the company announced a contract from an overseas government to develop passive and active muon tomography for detecting narco submarines; neither the customer nor the value was named.
The company says the same technology can screen for shielded nuclear material and for contraband such as narcotics.
Sources (5)
- https://www.decisionsciences.com/could-this-new-scanning-technology-revolutionize-the-cargo-screening-industry/
- https://www.decisionsciences.com/decision-sciences-awarded-2-7-million/
- https://www.decisionsciences.com/decision-sciences-announces-a-contract-award-for-the-detection-of-narco-submarines-using-both-passive-and-active-charged-particle-muon-tomography/
- https://decisionsciences.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/DS-Brochures-Website-Download.pdf
- https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2012/06/muon-detectors-hunt-fissile-contraband
Not verified or not found
- Founding or incorporation year: third-party listings differ (2003 or 2006); no primary record found. The 2006 figure is the company's own description of its origins, not an incorporation date.
- Ownership and funding: none found.
- Whether the company's Discovery system was piloted by US Customs and Border Protection in 2019, and any later procurement: appeared only in a social media post and is omitted.
- Value and customer of the December 2025 contract: not stated.
- Relationship between the Multi-Mode Passive Detection System of 2012 and the current Discovery product: implied by the company but not stated in the sources read.
Questions
What does Decision Sciences International do?
Decision Sciences makes Discovery, a passive muon and electron tomography cargo scanner that produces 3D images through dense shielding and is designed to detect shielded nuclear material and contraband without ionising radiation.
Where is Decision Sciences International based?
HQ (as found): San Diego, CA. HQ country: US.
Profiles are compiled from public sources and sampled-checked, not fully audited. Last verified 17 October 2026. Report a correction