Why x-ray security scan won't damage chips?

[hap2001]

Well I just have this question.
I've heard even the metal reflector in X-ray machines will be dented by the energy, so how do all nanometer-level chips pass the scanner unharmed?

[David Hess]

The x-rays do damage the semiconductors but the damage is insignificant because the total dose is low.

[TimFox]

What is this “metal reflector” of which you speak?
As said above, this is a quantitative question:  x-ray CT scanners apply more dose than line-scan radiographs, and are a threat to photographic films.

[Kleinstein]

X-ray is usually not damaging most materials. It is only the really sensitive parts like biological tissue, photographic film and EPROMs (and related, like flash) that can seee some damage. Even the normal EPROMs only loose some of the information (e.g. like aging for a few years), not a hard damage.

The anode is an x-ray tube can get some damage, but this is from the electrons to create the x-ray hitting it.