Dirty bombsSecurity of dirty bomb materials in U.S. inadequate: experts
There are more than 5,000 medical and research devices in the United States containing high-activity radiation sources, including 700 with category-1 sources. Category-1 radiation material could be used by terrorists in dirty bombs. The security measures developed by the industry were written with accident prevention in mind, not in order to thwart a deliberate, forcible effort by terrorists or criminals to gain control of the toxic material. In addition, radioactive materials were considered to be “self-protecting,” because it was assumed that the powerful radiation would deter anyone thinking of tampering with these devices. Terrorist bomb-makers, however, showed themselves to be more technologically-savvy than earlier thought, and, in any event, suicide bombers would not be deterred by the risk of radiation poisoning.
In December 2013 gunmen in Mexico hijacked a truck transporting a used radiation machined from a hospital to a disposal facility. The machine contained what scientists designate as category-1 radiation. These radiation sources may be used by terrorists in dirty bombs.
There are many devices and machines containing radioactive materials powerful enough to tempt terrorists. In a 2008 report, the National Research Council noted that there are more than 5,000 devices containing high-activity radiation sources in the United States, including 700 with category-1 sources.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reports that the industry has taken various measures to secure these radiation sources while on location or in transport, but these security measures have been written with accident prevention in mind, not in order to thwart a deliberate, forcible effort by terrorists or criminals to gain control of the toxic material. If hapless truck-jackers can steal high-activity sources by accident, the Bulletin notes, a well-organized terrorist group could certainly do so in a planned operation.
Moreover, both security officials and the industry used to think that radioactive materials were “self-protecting,” because the powerful radiation should deter anyone thinking of tampering with these devices. The 9/11 attacks, and subsequent bomb-making feats by al-Qaeda bomb-makers, showed that terrorists may be more technologically-savvy than earlier thought, and, in any event, suicide bombers would not be deterred by the risk of radiation poisoning.
The Mexican authorities eventually found the capsule with the radioactive material still intact, but the incident is but the latest reminder of the vulnerability of radiation sources in civilian use to seizure by criminals or terrorists.
So far there have not been instances in the United States of category-1 radiation sources stolen, and security experts say that to maintain this record, facilities and institutions that operate, transport, or dismantled devices that contain radioactive contents must be better secured and monitored.
There have been improvements in securing radiation sources in civilian use. The Bulletin notes that one important improvement was the implementation of a national register for all U.S. category-1 and -2 sources. The NRC’s National Source Tracking System went online in 2009, and it contains information about who currently owns radiation sources (the “licensees”), and where their devices are kept.
Disposal of radiation sources can be expensive, so a government-funded program recovers high-level radiation sources declared as “unwanted” to keep the devices from waste dumps. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) operates its Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) in the United States to offer better security and training to facilities with radioactive sources. The program is voluntary, and since 2008, the NNSA has identified more than 2,900 American hospitals and industrial buildings that may need security upgrades.
The Bulletin notes, however, that these tracking and registration systems, unlike a safe in a bank, offer no physical protection. Over the past nine years the NRC has introduced various security regulations requiring physical barriers to prevent unauthorized access to sources, provisions for intruder detection, mandatory background checks for staff handing the materials, and security protocols to speed up response to an actual or attempted theft.Still, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a sobering report in 2012. After its investigators visited several facilities where the new security measures to protect category-1 radiation source were implemented, the agency said that security conditions of hundreds of toxic radiation sources was deeply worrisome.
Security experts
The Bulletin makes several recommendations to make radiation sources, especially category-1 sources, more secure.
- Armed escorts should be required for category-1 transports, and a real-time location-tracking system should be mandatory not just for vehicles transporting category-1 sources, but also for those with category-2 sources. Drivers should be required, before beginning on their trip, to identify “safe havens” for rest stops for both category-1 and category-2 transports.
- All states should require armed escorts for category-1 transports, and this policy should be implemented now, even before the NRC to change its rules.
- Drivers of trucks carrying radiation sources must be trained to follow security protocols, avoid risky situations, and respond appropriately if they come under attack. The owners of transportation companies should equip their trucks with low-cost security systems — GPS tracking systems, duress buttons, or vehicle disabling devices — even when they are not legally required to do so.
