AW: [ RadSafe ] Better Nuclear Detectors Needed, DHS Deputy Nominee Says

[Franz Schönhofer]

The essence of the usual bla-bla-bla is that some people have been
promoted, some have new fields of responsibility, for some others new
jobs and responsibilities have been created. Shifts in responsibility,
replacements etc. I would be more than surprised if their income did not
rise considerably. 

I am impressed that 262 M$ are allocated for "better" port of entry
radiation detection devices. 
--------------------------------------------

Now I hear, that a truck, bound to deliver radionuclides for nuclear
medicine has been stolen including the radionuclides, because the driver
stopped somewhere to eat donuts, obviously did not secure the car and
left the keys in the pick up. 

How much of the 262 M$ will be dedicated to educate drivers delivering
radionuclides to hospitals that they should take the keys with them and
secure the freight when eating at McDonald or Donuts or KFC or
whatsoever. It is for me not understandable, that so much money is spent
on hypothetical issues and the most simple safety issues - which are not
even connected to radionuclides transport - are ignored. I very seldom
transport radioactive material, sometimes I transport a lot of K-40 when
bringing my younger son and his girl-friend back to their home.
Otherwise I always shut the doors, I take the keys with me. 

I remember that Abel Gonzales commented on "safety culture" recently,
but I do not believe that he mentioned locking car doors! I would have
believed that this is common sense. Can we not even rely on common sense
any more? 

 

Franz Schoenhofer
PhD, MR iR
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
AUSTRIA
phone -43-0699-1168-1319


> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] Im
> Auftrag von Gerry Blackwood
> Gesendet: Dienstag, 08. März 2005 20:28
> An: Rad Safe
> Cc: Iosif Izrailit; Leon Ryrakhowsky; Leon SFS
> Betreff: [ RadSafe ] Better Nuclear Detectors Needed, DHS Deputy
Nominee
> Says
> 
> 
> Better Nuclear Detectors Needed, DHS Deputy Nominee Says
> 
> By Joe Fiorill
> Global Security Newswire
> 
> 
> WASHINGTON — A new unit in the U.S. Homeland Security Department will
seek
> to bolster funds and speed research for improved nuclear detection
> technology at entry ports, Homeland Security Deputy
Secretary-designate
> Michael Jackson said yesterday (see GSN, March 3).
> 
> Homeland Security’s new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office is expected
to
> be at the center of the department’s nuclear response strategy, said
the
> nominee, a former deputy transportation secretary who was most
recently
> chief operating officer of AECOM Technology Corp. He cited better
> detection capabilities as one important aspect of the work.
> 
> “This has been one of Secretary [Michael] Chertoff’s early briefs, and
he
> is strongly supportive of the effort,” Jackson said when Senator Norm
> Coleman (R-Minn.) asked about the program at a hearing of the Senate
> Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
> 
> President George W. Bush’s fiscal 2006 budget proposal for Homeland
> Security stipulates creation of the new office and includes $262
million
> to research and develop better port-of-entry radiation detection
devices.
> 
> If confirmed, Jackson would replace James Loy as second-in-command at
the
> young department. He told senators yesterday that he views the post
for
> which he is nominated as that of a chief operating officer, a
“strategic
> thinker” and “change agent” who is “customer-focused,”
“action-oriented”
> and “constructively impatient.”
> Senators Renew Push for Risk-Based Response Grants
> 
> Recurrent themes of senators’ questioning during the confirmation
hearing
> included the department’s much-maligned funding formula for state and
> local emergency response.
> 
> The formula has so far been based heavily on population and per-state
> minimum payments, but critics from all quarters have called for an
> approach that would direct more money to locations facing demonstrated
> threats and vulnerabilities.
> 
> Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) yesterday criticized the
> department for a “lack of strategic planning” that she said prevented
> resources from being distributed effectively, adding that Bush’s
fiscal
> 2006 proposal would cut emergency response funding to “inadequate”
> amounts.
> 
> A White House budget summary indicates the fiscal 2006 proposal
includes
> $3.6 billion for “state and local first-responder grants and other
> assistance” but seeks to “restructure” $2.6 billion of that amount to
give
> the department more latitude to target spending to areas where it sees
the
> greatest risks.
> 
> Among changes involved in the restructuring is a reduction in the
> percentage of the overall grant budget that each state receives as a
> baseline from 0.75 percent to 0.25 percent. The move is intended to
free
> up more funds to be allocated on the basis of risk, Homeland Security
> Office for Domestic Preparedness spokesman Marc Short said today.
> 
> “We would still provide a baseline, but it’s a smaller baseline,”
Short
> said in a telephone interview.
> 
> In addition, the proposal seeks to combine a number of federal
programs —
> protecting ports and public transportation systems, for example — so
that
> funds may more freely be moved among them depending on the latest
threat
> information.
> 
> Senior committee Democrat Carl Levin (Mich.) yesterday called the
> declining amount of grants “deeply troubling” but praised Homeland
> Security for moving toward more risk-based spending.
> 
> “That is a positive move, certainly an improvement over the formula
which
> has been used to allocate this funding, which has yielded inequitable
> results,” Levin said, expressing hope that legislation enshrining the
new
> approach would be passed this year.
> 
> Collins and others in Congress have for nearly two years sought to
obtain
> passage of such legislation. When Congress in December 2004 approved
> legislation implementing the recommendations of the federal 9/11
> commission, proponents of first-response funding reform for a time
> believed their legislation would be inserted into the 9/11 bill.
> Ultimately they succeeded only in placing in the plan a “sense of
> Congress” statement in support of their effort.
> 
> “It is the sense of Congress that Congress must pass legislation in
the
> first session of the 109th Congress to reform the system for
distributing
> grants to enhance state and local government prevention of,
preparedness
> for and response to acts of terrorism,” reads the bill, which Bush
signed
> into law Dec. 17. The White House cited that language in documents
> describing its restructuring of state and local Homeland Security
grants
> for fiscal 2006.
> 
> The committee could approve Jackson’s nomination this week, Collins
said
> 
> 
> 
> "Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for
those
> who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality."
> 
> 
> 
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