Containers entering the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles from outside the U.S. will have to go through an additional security step by the end of the year.

Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said Friday, June 3, that both ports will receive radiation detectors by the end of the year to scan every incoming container for nuclear weapons and dirty bombs.

The scanners – which stand about 20 feet high – are already in use in several ports throughout the country, including Jersey City, NJ, and Oakland, CA.

Oakland installed 25 of the devices in April and became the first port to begin scanning all of its incoming containers.

About 4.3 million containers are shipped into the Los Angeles-Long Beach complex each year.

Miguel Lopez, port representative of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, told The Associated Press the union fears many of the containers would be left sitting on the docks for hours or days and not get checked right away.

“We think it’s hypocritical that they don’t screen it immediately after it’s unloaded,” he said. “It puts everybody in jeopardy, not just the truckers.”

The union represents about 500 truckers at the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports.