Amendment hopes to secure “dirty bomb” materials

According to Sen. Tom Carper (D- Del.) over 2,000 sites across the county contain radiological material that could be used to make a dirty bomb, but are not secure enough to prevent them from being stolen. Tuesday Carper introduced a bill that would improve the security at these sites. 

Carper, a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said the low-level radiological material is being used in hospitals, construction sites, or for industrial applications. However as of December 2015, the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) had only secured 800 of the 2,300 site containing these materials. 

“Recent reports have made it clear that some industrial radiological source are far to vulnerable to theft or sabotage by terrorists or others wishing to do us harm,” Sen. Carper said. 

The senator said he believes his amendment makes common sense improvements to ensure terrorist groups like ISIS or Al-Qaeda can’t access the material to make a dirty bomb. 

Under the amendment NNSA would be required to report to Congress a strategy for securing all sites in the United States. 

The amendment would also improve communication between federal, state and local law enforcement in order to better protect the low-level radiological material.