CDC says steps taken to improve nuclear security

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

The following was gleamed from the news today. What I find very 
interesting is that the focus is on the regulatory issues involved 
with storing radioactive materials in locked and marked areas. Those 
are the regulations. The article is entitled improving NUCLEAR 
SECURITY. When you read the article, the associate director states 
that CDC takes this very seriously, and refers to the infectious 
diseases they are a repository for. Now, I don't want to sound 
cynical, but as far as I am concened, the real issue is the storing 
of infectious diseases, which far outweighs the radioactive materials 
used in the research. The only thing that brings the nuclear material 
into this is the tagging that is conducted. As usual, there is 
absolutely NO quantification of the amount of nuclear material that 
was NOT controlled. They leave that up to the imagination of the 
reader. The premise being, ANY nuclear material is inhereltly 
dangerous (my assumption). The article should have focused on loose 
control of "infectious diseases" .. BUT, that is NOT the case. The 
media and over-reaction once again.

> An unannounced inspection of the CDC by the Nuclear Regulatory
> Commission (NRC) on May 27 found two instances in which nuclear
> materials were stored in unlocked containers in unlocked rooms. 

> ``We are taking this extremely seriously,'' Jack Jackson, the CDC's
> associate director of management and operations, told an NRC panel.
> The CDC, a group of federal agencies that monitors infectious and
> preventable diseases, uses nuclear material in medical research. 
> 
> ``This is a serious concern for us. We are a national depository for
> infectious diseases,'' Jonathan Richmond, the CDC's director of
> occupational health and safety, said. 

------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3149
  
mailto:sandyfl@ix.netcom.com
mailto:sperle@icnpharm.com

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