i am travelling overseas soon and wish i was going through manchester, but alas i am not. personally, i dont know what people fear about going through this. after all (although i admit i have not seen the machine) it could have been concealed in a wall where it would have scanned EVERY passenger without anybody knowing whatsoever. as far as the health implications go, it is stated that being scanned 20 000 times by this machine is the equivalant of just 1 normal medical Xray. as for the security personnel monitering this machine - they are located remotely of the scanner in a totally different area of the airport, and have no visual or verbal communication with the people in the screening area. the person monitoring the screen confirms electronically to the security area that all is OK. another fear was using mobile phones to take images shown on screen - however manchester airport have advised that any staff member viewing the images will not be able to take any recording device whatsoever into the viewing room, and will be searched at the start of each shift.
personally, for those who do not like it - you have a choice - fly from another airport. and once every airport has them, your next option is to travel by sea / land!
all details included on manchester airport website :
Manchester Airport : T2 X-RAY TRIAL