The state of the art in X-ray log scanning technology was reviewed. The commercially available X-ray log scanners, their manufacturers, and their current uses and benefits were investigated. It was found that although these systems are currently used and manufactured solely in Europe, they do offer benefits that could be utilized in the Canadian industry. The strength and weaknesses of using X-ray scanning for applications in the Canadian industry and for detecting log features and defects of interest to the industry were investigated. However, estimating the ROI for the Canadian industry is challenging because two types of adaptation with unknown costs are required to take advantage of these systems in Canada. First, these systems are designed for the European industry and their benefits to the Canadian industry could be substantially enhanced with modifications to the systems. Second, the information that can be obtained from these systems could potentially be used to increase recovery in multiple stages in the value chain from log allocation to processing. Therefore, different returns can be realized depending on the operational changes that the Canadian industry is able to make in each stage, their associated costs, and the actual change in value recovery.