The instrument was designed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. Called the Dual-Use Analyzer, the system enables a border inspector or other field agent to identify cargo and differentiate between metals of similar appearance, eliminating the need for costly off-site analysis. The instrument will take inspectors only 1 to 3 seconds to determine the composition of a material. Using eddy current technology (a method of detecting changes in the properties of a coil placed in contact with metals of different conductivity and permeability), the Dual-Use Analyzer determines the electrical conductivity of the candidate metal and then compares this signal "signature" against an on-board library of nuclear dual-use and high-value metal signatures. The system is sufficiently sensitive to identify various metals that may have been "comingled" in an attempt to avoid detection by confusing the device. This system is a major improvement over current protocols, which require border inspectors to divert suspicious materials to sampling and off-site analysis.