[ RadSafe ] Press Release: 220 Radioactive Sources Removed From Georgia School

[John Jacobus]

This was pointed out to me through another list
server.  The whole body irradiator where I worked was
orginially loaded with 320,000 Ci of Co-60.

NNSA Press Release - 220 Radioactive Sources Removed
>From Georgia
  College

http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/docs/newsreleases/2005/PR_2005-12-13_NA-05-33.htm

==========

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 13, 2005

        220 Radioactive Sources Removed From Georgia
School

 Material that could have been be used for "dirty
bombs" is now safe
                           and secure

 WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA)  announced today the removal of
68,000 curies of radioactive cobalt-60  from the
Neally Nuclear Research Center at the Georgia
Institute of  Technology campus in downtown Atlanta.
The successful operation was  recently completed and
the material has been secured.

 The 220 sealed sources of cobalt-60 were recovered in
three separate  loads by the Los Alamos National
Laboratory (LANL) for NNSA's Global  Threat Reduction
Initiative (GTRI) program and sent to the Nevada Test 
Site for permanent disposal. The material had been
used by the school  for research in the fields of
materials science, genetics, radiation  shielding, and
biological materials processing, and was housed in a 
15-foot deep pool that provided shielding. Lawrence
Livermore National  Laboratory also provided support
for the operation.

 NNSA Administrator Linton F. Brooks commended the
operation, saying it  was important to keep dirty bomb
material safe and secure from  terrorists. "It is
critical to our national security efforts that  excess
and unwanted radiological sources be disposed of in a
responsible  manner. Together, NNSA and two of our
national laboratories have safely  disposed of
material from Georgia Tech that could have been used
for  dirty bombs. We will continue aggressively
working to keep this kind of  material out of the
hands of terrorists," he said.

 One of NNSA's top priorities is removing and securing
materials that  pose a safety hazard and national
security risk. To date, NNSA has  recovered almost
12,000 radiation sources and placed them in safe and 
secure storage away from the public and
environmentally sensitive areas.
 The effort is managed by the LANL Nuclear
Nonproliferation Division.
 Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,
the Bush  administration accelerated the recovery of
unwanted radioactive sources  and material that could
be used to make a dirty bomb.

 LANL supports the GTRI program by assisting in the
recovery and  disposition of excess, unwanted, and/or
abandoned radioactive sealed  sources and other
radioactive material. Sources containing radioactive 
plutonium, americium, cesium, cobalt and strontium
have been recovered  from medical, agricultural,
research and industrial locations throughout  the
nation.

 Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a
semi-autonomous agency  within the U.S. Department of
Energy responsible for enhancing national  security
through the military application of nuclear energy.
NNSA  maintains and enhances the safety, security,
reliability and performance  of the U.S. nuclear
weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to 
reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction;
provides the U.S.
 Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and
responds to nuclear  and radiological emergencies in
the U.S. and abroad.

 Media Contacts:
 Bryan Wilkes, NNSA   (202) 586-7371

 Release No. NA-05-33

=====


+++++++++++++++++++
"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."
"John F. Kennedy, U.S. President and former Naval Officer 

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com

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