The Transportation Security Administration will relocate its "advanced imaging technology" units known commonly as full-body scanners to primary positions at Tampa International Airport's airsides starting in June.
The move will mean more passengers will be directed through the AIT devices on a "largely random" basis, while others will continue to walk through metal detector archways as part of the security screening process, said TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said.
"Deploying this technology in the primary position is a critical step toward utilizing the technology to its full capacity and improving TSA's ability to detect threats such as explosives," said Koshetz. .
The devices had been off to the side and were used only in certain circumstances.
The TSA says the three-dimensional image looks like a film negative or a robotic sketch. It can see beneath your clothing, but the image is muddy enough that anatomical parts are hard to see.
People selected for the full-body scan can opt for a pat down instead, but anyone who refuses both options will not be allowed to fly.
The TSA has 63 body image units at 25 airports, including four at each of the outlying airside terminals at Tampa International.
TSA plans to deploy 450 units in 2010.
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