[ RadSafe ] Panel wants tighter radiation security

[BLHamrick at aol.com]

We may all think this is ridiculous (I know I do), but it may be reality  
soon.  Congress can't fix the real problem (i.e., how to stop an actual  nuclear 
weapon), so they (and the executive agencies, which are all dependent  on 
funding appropriated by Congress) focus on things they think they  can solve, 
whether they're a real public danger or not, because it will look  like they're 
doing something...at least to the vast majority of the public who  have been 
brainwashed into believing the myths about the unique and terrifying  dangers of 
radioactivity.
 
Barbara L. Hamrick
 
In a message dated 10/11/2007 11:13:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time,  
sandyfl at cox.net writes:

Ridiculous or WHAT!!!

Panel wants tighter radiation  security

WASHINGTON (AP) Oct 9 - The U.S. government should replace  more than 
1,000 irradiation machines used in hospitals and research  facilities 
because terrorists could use the radioactive materials inside  to make 
a "dirty" bomb, a government advisory panel has concluded.  

"Any one of these 1,000-plus sources could shut down 25 square  
kilometers, anywhere in the United States, for 40-plus years,"  
according to panel documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The  machines are in relatively unprotected locations such as 
hospitals and  research facilities all over the country, and may be a 
tempting source of  radioactive materials for terrorists who want 
bombs that explode and  disperse radioactive debris over a large area, 
rendering it uninhabitable,  the board found.

The irradiators contain Cesium-137, one of the most  dangerous and 
long-lasting radioactive materials. They are used for  radiation 
therapy and to sterilize blood and food.

Swapping the  Cesium irradiators for X-ray machines or irradiators 
that use other  materials would cost about $200 million over five 
years, but it would take  the most accessible source of dangerous 
radioactive material inside the  United States "off the table" for 
terrorists, the panel says.

The  recommendation is part of an as-yet-unreleased report that 
describes how  unfriendly nations or terrorist groups could undermine 
the computers and  satellites the U.S. military relies on and attack 
the United States with  radiological or biological weapons or 
blackmail the U.S. government with a  threat of a nuclear detonation, 
all while manipulating world opinion  against the United States in the 
media and on the Internet.

The  report comes from the Defense Science Board, a panel of retired 
military  and CIA officials and defense industry experts who offer the 
Pentagon  possible solutions to actual and potential national security 
problems. It  is expected to be released late this year.

The board wants the Pentagon  to create a joint military force able to 
locate and seize illicit nuclear  materials and weapons when they are 
still in transit, and to safely  destroy nuclear weapons captured from 
terrorists or defeated  states.

It says U.S. intelligence has failed to determine what  countries or 
groups are developing or trying to obtain nuclear,  radiological and 
biological weapons and how and when they are likely to  use them.

"No adversary can exercise all options; but we don't know  which 
options they can exercise," the documents state.

The report  recommends creating "unfettered X-treme intelligence 
teams" to improve the  "poor intelligence community posture." Exactly 
what the teams would do is  classified.

The board advocates diplomacy and trying to influence world  opinion 
so the United States is less likely to be attacked or lured into a  
foreign war it might not win.

"We are unprepared," state the  documents. "At best we will be 
deterred. Worse, we will enter the fray and  then quit when we 
appreciate the cost of success. Instruments of national  power other 
than the military, such as strategic communication, will  assume 
greater importance."

The U.S government should be promoting  universally accepted values 
like human dignity, economic well-being,  health care and education 
rather than "democracy" and "freedom," the panel  states.

"What we say is often not what others may hear __ concepts such  as 
'democracy,' 'rule of law' and 'freedom' have different meanings in  
different cultures and at different stages of their development," the  
documents state. "It is about them, not only about us."

It  recommends that the State Department spend $250 million over five 
years to  create an independent "Center for Global Engagement" to 
conduct opinion  research and analyses on media and culture that the 
government can use to  design projects and messages that will advance 
those values.

It  also recommends deploying more hospital ships for medical and 
humanitarian  relief; releasing spy imagery to help other countries in 
crop management,  weather forecasting, and environmental studies; and 
adopting policies that  will help create jobs in key strategic nations 
such as Lebanon, Pakistan  and Iraq.







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