U.S. Lawmaker Introduces “Dirty Bomb” Security Bill

U.S. House Representative Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) last week introduced legislation intended to increase safeguards against radiological “dirty bomb” attacks in the United States (see GSN, July 12, 2007).

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), a co-sponsor of the Radiological Materials Security Act, has warned that radiological materials that could be used to produce a dirty bomb are often insufficiently secured and vulnerable to theft.

The bill, if approved, would call for the Homeland Security Department to assess the potential vulnerabilities and consequences of an event involving a radiological weapon; require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to implement security measures already in place in New York state; and offer federal grants for sites to implement measures for securing their radiological materials (U.S. Representative Yvette Clarke release, March 17).

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