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WASHINGTON, Sep 14 (Reuters) The US Senate today voted unanimously to strengthen security at American seaports, but refused to set a deadline for overseas scanning of US-bound cargo for nuclear weapons.

The US House of Representatives passed a similar bill in May, and the two chambers must now negotiate a consensus version.

Only a fraction of the millions of cargo containers that now enter US ports each year are inspected. That has prompted warnings that sea cargo remains a serious security risk five years after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The bill approved by the Senate 98-0 requires the government to finish installing radiation-screening equipment at major US ports by the end of 2007 to detect nuclear or ''dirty bombs,'' which combine conventional explosives and radioactive material. It authorizes some $3.5 billion for port security spending, aides said.

But the overwhelming vote masked election-year wrangling of recent days, as each party sought to claim the high ground with voters on the key issue of national security. Provisions to boost rail and mass transit security were added.

The Senate, controlled by President George W Bush's Republicans, voted 61-37 earlier to scrap a Democratic proposal for a four-year deadline for scanning all US-bound cargo while still overseas. Such a deadline is also opposed by the shipping industry and the Republican majority in the House.

New York Democratic Sen Charles Schumer, who sought the deadline, said that it was not enough to install radiation detection devices at home.

He said other countries should install scanning systems that capture an image of contents of US-bound container ships to help inspectors spot suspicious cargo. Shipping companies could pay the cost, about 8 dollars per container, Schumer said.

''We all know we have to push this outward. If a nuclear weapon (explodes) on a ship in New York, and has not yet been unloaded onto a truck, the same terrible consequences exist for the people of New York,'' Schumer said.

Republicans said the proposal could cause global gridlock of cargo and was impractical. They noted that the legislation already would require such scanning in overseas ports as soon as it is feasible, without setting a time frame.

''We have tried very hard in this bill to strike the right balance, make people and ports safer, but we've done it without harming the vital trade that manufacturers, retailers, farmers in this nation depend on,'' said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican and one of the bill's co-sponsors.

The shipping industry prefers the provisions in the Senate bill, which would set up a pilot program at three foreign ports to test the feasibility of overseas scanning.

The Senate did approve a Schumer proposal for 500 million dollars in grants for research and development into new technology to detect and prevent nuclear threats to seaports.

The ports bill would set up a ''green lane'' system to expedite cargo from shippers who give the US government detailed information about their security practices.

The bill mandates new procedures to help shippers resume trade after an attack and to reopen ports as soon as possible.

It would also require background checks on port workers.

The port security issue languished in Congress until earlier this year when lawmakers said they had security concerns about an Arab state-owned company, Dubai Ports World, which had bought operations at six major US ports.

To quell the uproar, the company said it would sell the US assets it had acquired.

Reuters VJ VP0310