国际英语新闻：U.S. to deploy more than 150 full-body scanners at airports after Christmas bombing plot

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is to deploy more than 150 full-body scanning machines at airports across the country following a failed attempted bombing on a U.S. international flight, said officials on Thursday.

The Transportation Security Administration said on its website that the scanners, valued at 170,000 U.S. dollars per piece, were ordered before the bombing attempt on the Christmas, and it still planned to buy an additional 300 units by 2012.

A computer monitor displays the full-body scan during a demonstration of passenger screening technology by the Transportation Security Administration, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009, at the TSA Systems Integration Facility of the United States

    According to the administration, currently, there are 40 body scanners put in use at 19 U.S. airports, but passengers can opt out of the screening and receive other forms of checking, such as a pat-down procedure.

    The security screening was under spotlight after a Nigerian brought an explosive device attached to his body to a Delta/Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan, on Dec. 25.

Staff at the U.S. Transporation Security Administration (TSA) Systems Integration Facility, one playing the role of a airline passenger (L) demonstrate the use of Millimeter Wave technology for passenger security screening in Washington, Dec. 30, 2009.

President Barack Obama has ordered a review in the procedure to strengthen the air security, which was breached during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the U.S., leaving thousands killed.

    However, critics said that the procedure is likely to violate passengers' privacy, and the TSA has promised to blur pictures of passengers' faces and delete all images produced right after checking as response.