A TECHNOLOGY company has completed the first part of a contract to help fight terrorism.

Kromek says it has sent an initial 10,000 personal radiation detectors to DARPA, an agency of the US Department of Defense.

The company, based in Sedgefield, County Durham, says the equipment helps identify acts of terrorism, such as a ‘dirty bomb’, by picking up the tiniest traces of radioactive materials.

Fulfilment of the delivery is another boost for Kromek, which earlier this week revealed a sextet of contracts worth in excess of £2.5m that will see it work with the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency on radiation detectors.

Those deals also include a £353,000 contract with the UK’s Ministry of Defence to supply nuclear radiation detection products and orders from an Asian airport group for its bottle scanners.

Referring to its DARPA agreement, Dr Arnab Basu, chief executive, said: “We look forward to participating in the roll out of the programme in Washington DC and elsewhere to make the cities of the US detect and counter the threat of dirty bomb attacks from international and domestic terrorists.”

Dr Basu previously told The Northern Echo Kromek’s DARPA deal was the “tip of the iceberg.”

He added: “We are in discussions with the US and other countries who are looking at these systems.

“We would expect to supply hundreds of thousands over the next few years.”