Cargo screening costs could skyrocket.

Complying with a mandate to scan all incoming cargo containers at overseas ports before they reach the United States would cost the Department of Homeland Security an estimated $22 billion to $32 billion over a 10-year period, vastly more than current screening procedures, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Approximately 12 million shipping containers enter U.S. ports each year, CBO noted in a recent report, "Scanning and Imaging Shipping Containers Overseas: Costs and Alternatives."

To protect against potential nuclear weapons threats, Customs and Border Protection--a DHS agency--scans all containers with a passive radiation monitor. Those deemed high risk--usually about 5 percent--are more closely inspected with X-ray or gamma-ray imaging systems. The agency opens and examines containers if the images suggest that the cargo is potentially dangerous.

To enhance security, lawmakers mandated that DHS use both radiation detectors and imaging systems overseas on all U.S.-bound containers before they leave port. The deadline has been extended multiple times and DHS now has until 2018 to implement the change.

The necessary equipment would have to be installed at the 453 foreign ports in 130 countries that load containers onto U.S.-bound ships. If the number of inbound containers grows at 2.5 percent per year, CBO estimates that implementing and operating such a system would cost between $22 billion and $32 billion in 2015 dollars over 10 years, depending on the type of technology used.

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In comparison, if CBP continued to use...