Responding to concerns about letters carrying anthrax, the United States Postal Service announced last week it will buy new irradiation equipment to sterilize mail.
Details of those plans have been sketchy, but investor hopes that the postal service would buy equipment from San Diego companies sent their stocks higher.
SureBeam Corp. as well as its majority owner, Titan Corp., make the machinery that subjects objects to electron beams. Titan has promoted its device for medical sterilization while SureBeam has promoted its device for food.
“This thing has a real capability against anthrax,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, who said he had been briefed on the machinery.
A spokesman for Titan and SureBeam did not return calls about the matter as this newspaper went to press.
SureBeam stock rocketed higher last week, trading at extraordinary volume. It closed at $8.53 on Oct. 22, $10.70 on Oct. 23 and $15.41 on Oct. 24. Some 9.6 million shares traded hands Oct. 24.
Titan stock closed at $19.50 Oct. 22 and climbed to $26.30 Oct. 24.
If the postal service was to enter an agreement with a San Diego company, it was unclear whether the work would be steered to Titan or SureBeam or both.
“Titan/SureBeam technology can electronically zap the mail or other packaging that may be used by a terrorist to transmit the anthrax, eliminating in minutes that threat or any other bacterial threats,” Titan said in an Oct. 17 statement.
“Since Titan/SureBeam technology is a machine, it can be installed in almost any processing facility.”
Titan used the same statement to say it was setting up a homeland security office within the office of Chairman Gene Ray , who is also chairman of SureBeam. The office would provide solutions to chemical or biological terrorism.
“The objective of the office is to efficiently bring together the combined resources of Titan and SureBeam, in order to provide government and commercial customers with comprehensive integrated solutions to the bioterrorism threat.
“As a first step, Titan and SureBeam will be offering SureBeam’s proprietary electron beam technology as an immediate and safe solution for eliminating anthrax contamination from the U.S. mail.”
Titan named Susan Golding, former mayor of San Diego, to head the office.
In a separate Oct. 17 statement about the status of the SureBeam spinoff, Titan said it plans to license SureBeam technology for all applications other than the worldwide food, animal hides and flowers markets.
Postal service spokesmen have so far been vague on their equipment supplier or suppliers, on the cost of the machinery, and on the priorities for deploying it.
“The postal service will be using the latest, state-of-the-art technology in targeted areas but for security reasons is not discussing that equipment in detail,” read a statement issued by the agency late Oct. 24.
“This technology is completely safe for employees and customers, and will be built directly into the sorting process.”
Agency governors decided Oct. 22 to spend at least $200 million to buy or lease irradiation equipment.
The Oct. 24 statement said the White House has authorized an additional $175 million to go toward masks and gloves for postal employees, as well as electron-beam equipment.
The New York Times reported Oct. 25 that equipment for the Postal Services’ 300 regional mail centers could cost billions of dollars. The newspaper has reported SureBeam was in talks with the government, and noted SureBeam stock more than doubled in price.
Similar equipment is made by Ion Beam Applications of Belgium and BioSterile Technology of Fort Wayne, Ind., according to the Times.
Titan and SureBeam run four processing facilities and are building three more, the statement said.
Titan and SureBeam are currently using the technology to ensure the security of its own mail.
The Associated Press quoted a Titan/SureBeam spokesman saying the equipment could treat mail at the cost of a penny a letter.
