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| AP: ’Lost’ Radioactive Matter Poses Risk |
| 2003-11-11 |
| EFL. Federal investigators have documented 1,300 cases of lost, stolen or abandoned radioactive material inside the United States over the past five years and have concluded there is a significant risk that terrorists could cobble enough together for a dirty bomb. Studies by the Energy Department’s Los Alamos laboratory and the General Accounting Office found significant holes in the nation’s security net that could take years to close, even after improvements by regulators since Sept. 11, 2001. "The world of radiological sources developed prior to recent concerns about terrorism, and many of the sources are either unsecured or provided, at best, with an industrial level of security," the Los Alamos lab concluded two months ago in a report that was reviewed by The Associated Press. The report concludes that the threat of a so-called dirty bomb that could disperse radiological materials across a wide area "appears to be very significant, and there is no shortage of radioactive materials that could be used." Security improvements under way "are unlikely to significantly alter the global risk picture for a few years," it added. Wonderfully reassuring. The FBI repeatedly has warned law enforcement over the past year that al-Qaida was interested in obtaining radiological materials and creating a dispersal bomb, most recently after authorities received an uncorroborated report a few weeks ago that al-Qaida might be seeking material from a Canadian source. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Beth Hayden said the agency recognizes the potential dangers of such materials and al-Qaida’s interest in them - "there are millions of sources," she said. But she added most of the 1,300 lost radiological sources were subsequently recovered and the public should keep the threat in perspective. "The ones that have been lost and not recovered, I’m told, if you put them all together, it would not add up to one highly radioactive source," Hayden said. "These are low-level sources." "Why, there’s just barely enough to cause mass panic across the whole country!" The Los Alamos analysis specifically cited concerns about the transportation of large shipments of radioactive cobalt from industrial sites, as well as lax security at hospitals that use radiological devices to treat and diagnose patients. NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan Jr. said the GAO concerns were overstated, focusing on materials with extremely low level radioactivity. He said his agency has been taking steps for months to more securely ship and store high-risk sources. "We honestly think we are doing a very aggressive and excellent job in this area, but we have obviously more to do," McGaffigan said in an interview. "Our view is we don’t want to lose any of them, and we are going to have cradle-to-grave controls as soon as we possibly can for high-risk sources." Today would be nice. The congressional investigation for the first time tallied the number of times sealed radiological materials have been lost, misplaced or stolen. They found more than 1,300 instances inside the United States since 1998. While most have been recovered, the report cited a handful of harrowing, unsolved losses. For instance, in March 1999, an industrial radiography camera containing iridium-192 was stolen from a Florida home. The camera has not been recovered despite an investigation by the FBI. The NRC believes the material should have degraded by now and would no longer be useful for a bomb. Let’s not count on natural decay, ok boys? The GAO and Los Alamos security reviews made several recommendations. They include keeping licensed sources from getting radiological materials until after they are inspected, improving structural security at high-risk locations and working with federal, state and international regulators to toughen controls. There’s a WoT out there, folks, let’s get on with this. I am NOT going to be too forgiving if some gummint beaurocrat screws up and al-Q gets ahold of some cesium-137. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 Um, just to add here (and this is a rhetorical question so DON'T give me specifics please), assuming you manage to take say 1-5 ounces from each incident at the least, then you're talking anywhere from between 37 kilos to 185 kilos of radioactive material (as a conservative estimate) being missing. I'm not sure how much radioactive material a dirty bomb needs for causing more damage/radioactivity levels that would seal off more than a city block, but I suspect it would have to be much more than that. On the other hand...I don't like the idea of the stuff missing and possibly contanminating certain things such as water, it doesn't afterall take much plutonium to poison a large body of water. |
| Posted by: Val 2003-11-11 11:03:58 PM |
| #8 There are a couple of thousand ways to cause immense harm to a large number of people. What worries me more than anything is that our security people will miss one, and A-Q won't. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-11 10:25:17 PM |
| #7 I'm not worried about the blast or the radiation, I'm worried about the traffic. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-11 7:05:08 PM |
| #6 I wouldn't take the threat of a dirty bomb lightly. I have seen comments that if you are not directly in the blast zone you have nothing to worry about. While this is true, unless terrorists managed to blow up pounds of radioactive material on an especially windy day, the pychological affect would be devasting. Imagine one going off in Downtown LA or Manhattan. The ecomomic impact could be greater than 9-11. Ther area would be percieved as off limits for years to come. |
| Posted by: Dan 2003-11-11 4:17:11 PM |
| #5 Okay, boys, I'll rise to my own defense :-) I do count on natural decay as a fundamental physical principle, but I'd prefer that our security people try to stop these thefts rather than hoping the stuff decays first. OP: hospitals -- you are correct, and I shudder to think what security is at my hospital. And yes, we're all required to look after our own security. Chuck: 28.5 gm (approximately) make an ounce. Yes, small amounts of beta-emitters aren't a problem. Gamma emitters are more of a problem, and there are ways to accumulate the stuff. Take what OP said -- just steal a small amount from a hundred hospitals, and all of a sudden you have a large amount. Further, while taking a shower solves a fair percentage of radiation exposures, it WON'T solve the panic of the first couple of days after a radiological bomb is used. That's what the al-Q douche-bags are counting on, and that's why lax security has to be tightened up. I suspect we're all in violent agreement :-) |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-11-11 3:55:39 PM |
| #4 You can count on natural decay as much as you can count on gravity, Steve. Otherwise, we may as well sign Kyoto. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-11-11 3:18:41 PM |
| #3 I'm with Chuck on this one. Unless you actually get radioactive shrapnel in you or get blown up, it's basically a non-problem. |
| Posted by: Kathy K 2003-11-11 1:58:38 PM |
| #2 Not enough information here to make a really tight assessment. What's missing, in what quantity? What's the half-life? What's the normal use for this material? One of the biggest problems (sorry, Steve, but true) is with hospitals, who are so committed to working to save lives, they think they won't be a target - of theft, of mischief in any form, or of actual explosions and other harmful activities. EVERYBODY, EVERYWHERE, WHO ISN'T A WAHABI MUSLIM, IN LOCK-STEP WITH AL QAIDA, IS A TARGET. Read that again, three times. That DOES mean "you". Security starts at the personal level. It requires the attention of each individual. There are no "unimportant" links in the chain (God, how many times was that beaten into my head in the military?). Laxness in security should result in an automatic pink slip. Instead, what we'll probably get is a load of bull, a few hand-slaps, and one day, in the not-too-distant future, another 9/11. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-11 11:14:14 AM |
| #1 This is a load of shineola. Most of the "sources" are measured in grams, and what? 32 grams make an ounce? Tiny amounts are missing, not the pounds that would be needed for a dirty bomb. And, as I've said on my blog repeatedly, if you don't get blown up by a dirty bomb, take a shower and you'll be fine. It's a complete non threat. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-11-11 8:22:58 AM |