Radiological Weapons:  Irradiation Workers Get No Background Checks

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not require criminal or security background checks for technicians with access to irradiation equipment, U.S. Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said in press release yesterday.

“The NRC does not require background checks for personnel with access to these materials or the facilities in which they are stored and has done nothing to permanently upgrade their security,” he said as he released a letter from the commission with the information.

Markey also expressed concern that terrorists might use conventional explosives to blow up a truck carrying irradiation equipment or a facility with such equipment (Markey press release, July 30).

Operators use irradiation equipment to disinfect food and other substances, according to the Boston Globe.  Hospitals, universities and facilities that disinfect food imported from other countries often have irradiators, the Globe reported.  Markey said terrorists might take advantage of the lack of security around industrial irradiation equipment and attempt to obtain radioactive material from the equipment to use in a dirty bomb — a conventional explosive laced with radioactive material (see GSN, July 11).

“The NRC, … when faced with the reality that irradiation facilities are vulnerable to attack, have said essentially ‘please stand by.’  But the terrorists are not going to stand by,” Markey said.

The NRC has “no immediate comment” on Markey’s statements, an NRC spokesman said (Robert Schlesinger, Boston Globe, July 31).

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