The National Nuclear Security Administration is working with New York City and the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative on a new program intended to prevent terrorists from acquiring material for “a radiological dispersal device,” or dirty bomb.
The partnership helps academic and medical institutions in the city replace devices that use radiological materials with X-ray technology, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said in a press release.
The NNSA contributes through the Cesium Irradiator Replacement Project in the agency’s Office of Radiological Security. The office helps institutions pay for new medical and research equipment and helps dispose of the old, radiation-based equipment.
In its Thursday release, the NNSA said the partnership with New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is “the first citywide initiative to reduce the reliance on risk significant devices in medical and research applications.”
Among other things, radiation can be useful for medical imaging and materials research, where they allow researchers, scientists, and doctors to see through otherwise impenetrable substances. However, radiological material could also be appropriated and weaponized in the form of a weapon that uses a conventional explosion to spread radiation over a wide area.
