Narrative:

I received word from [gate agent] that boarding had been stopped. While in the course of random outbound security checks by customs officers; they had received an alert on their prds (personal radiation detectors) near our aircraft and needed to individually scan passengers and potentially the aircraft for excessive radiation. Passengers both on the jet bridge and in first class were scanned by prds and a customs dog. It was then determined that the excessive radiation was being emitted from the forward cargo area. Customs officers initially said it was at a level 7. However; upon further review from an upgraded professional radiation detector and customs radiation expert from [the terminal]; they determined it was off scale high in excess of a level 10 and were unable to extrapolate the precise reading. The phrase;' potential bomb making materials' was used several times by the customs agents. Both in lieu of this information; and with the support of the [chief pilot]; and a lack of information from some departments at [the company] as to the exact nature of what we were shipping; I elected to remove the dangerous goods.as a follow up to this incident; I spoke with both our dg (dangerous goods) hot-line and a customs agent [a few days later]. The hot-line was unable to delineate what exactly we were shipping except to merely read back what was already on the manifest. And a customs agent indicated that they have a scientist on call 24/7 to precisely interpret the results of the professional radiation meter. He indicated that the dg materials may have been legitimate; but the packaging was not.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 Captain and cabin crew reported Customs Officers conducted aircraft and passenger PRD (Personal Radiation Detector) scan due to excessive radiation levels from the aircraft. Captain elected to remove Hazmat cargo due to the lack of information from company regarding onboard Dangerous Goods cargo.

Narrative: I received word from [Gate Agent] that boarding had been stopped. While in the course of random outbound security checks by Customs officers; they had received an alert on their PRDs (Personal Radiation Detectors) near our aircraft and needed to individually scan passengers and potentially the aircraft for excessive radiation. Passengers both on the jet bridge and in First Class were scanned by PRDs and a Customs dog. It was then determined that the excessive radiation was being emitted from the forward cargo area. Customs officers initially said it was at a LEVEL 7. However; upon further review from an upgraded Professional Radiation Detector and Customs Radiation Expert from [the terminal]; they determined it was off scale high in excess of a LEVEL 10 and were unable to extrapolate the precise reading. The phrase;' potential bomb making materials' was used several times by the Customs agents. Both in lieu of this information; and with the support of the [Chief Pilot]; and a lack of information from some departments at [the company] as to the exact nature of what we were shipping; I elected to remove the dangerous goods.As a follow up to this incident; I spoke with both our DG (Dangerous Goods) Hot-line and a Customs agent [a few days later]. The Hot-line was unable to delineate what exactly we were shipping except to merely read back what was already on the manifest. And a Customs Agent indicated that they have a scientist on call 24/7 to precisely interpret the results of the professional Radiation Meter. He indicated that the DG materials may have been legitimate; but the packaging was not.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.