WASHINGTON – The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that a government advisory panel is recommending the replacement of more than 1,000 irradiation machines used in hospitals and research facilities. The panel claims the radioactive materials in the machines could be used by terrorists to build a “dirty bomb.”
The report, which has yet to be released, is from the Defense Science Board. It says irradiators, which contain Cesium-137, are in poorly defended locations, including hospitals and research facilities. The Cesium-137 could be used to make bombs that could disperse over a wide area, paralyzing a location for more than 40 years. The panel says these types of machines are the most accessible source of radioactive materials in the nation.
Replacing the irradiators with other machines that use different materials would cost approximately $200 million.
According to the AP, the report will be released later this year. It covers how other nations or terrorists could damage U.S. computers and satellites with various weapons of mass destruction.
