Global Security Newswire

U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration personnel last week offered training in Bangladesh in a bid to prepare local authorities to find, recognize, record and transfer materials suitable for use in a radiological "dirty bomb," the semiautonomous Energy Department agency announced.

The South Asian nation supported the effort by identifying a number of domestic locations with a high probability of holding unclaimed radiological substances. The NNSA Global Threat Reduction Initiative is expected to aid Bangladeshi officials in inspecting and collecting materials at the initial several areas of concern.

“The strong partnership between the United States and Bangladesh is a tangible demonstration of our shared commitment to prevent terrorists and proliferators from acquiring dangerous radiological materials,” NNSA Deputy Administrator Anne Harrington said in a statement. “Securing orphaned or disused radioactive sources is an important part of implementing the goals set forth in the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit Communiqué.”

Meanwhile, officials last Thursday inaugurated a freshly constructed, 17,000-square-foot police, armed forces and customs drill building at an Energy Department site in Washington state, the nuclear agency announced on Monday.

The State Department underwrote the structure's $2.9 million cost to help prepare authorities to find and seize possible nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological armaments. Additional funding from the National Nuclear Security Administration is expected to cover the deployment of gear with potential atomic verification uses.