Global Security Newswire

Authorities in the Indian city of New Delhi have acquired 80 hand-held radiation detectors to help them spot potential nuclear or radiological materials at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Hindustan Times reported Monday (see GSN, July 31, 2009).

“These meters weigh a little less than 1.5 kilograms. They are handy and will help our men to identify any nuclear agent hidden in any object. They will be used during the games and even after that,” police official Karnal Singh said of the devices.

“If someone tries to sneak in radioactive materials concealed in food boxes during the Commonwealth Games, we will be able to detect them immediately with the help of these meters,” Singh said. “If radioactive substances are used in a bomb blast, these meters will help and necessary action can be taken immediately," he added.

Officers assigned duty at the October sporting event were receiving training in use of the devices, according to Singh.

Delhi authorities took more than three days in April to discover that material uncovered at a junkyard was radioactive cobalt 60, a substance that could be dispersed in a radiological "dirty bomb" (Vijaita Singh, Hindustan Times, July 5).