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Radioactive Medical Devices Could be Used to Make Dirty Bombs

Radioactive Medical Devices Could be Used to Make Dirty Bombs January 15, 2009 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer (NaturalNews) The radioactive devices used in medical centers across the country could pose an attractive target for terrorists seeking to make dirty bombs, according to a report by a panel of the U.S. National Research council.

In a report commissioned by Congress, the council suggests phasing out the 5,000 most radioactive medical devices in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the 1,300 radionuclide devices that use radioactive cesium chloride.

Cesium chloride contains the high-activity radionuclide cesium-137.

“We think it is possible to get rid of most of the 5,000 high-activity radiation devices over the next 10 to 20 years if there was a national policy to encourage it,” panel chair Theodore L. Phillips said.
These 5,000 devices, using eight different radionuclides, account for 99 percent of the highest security risk radioactivity sources in the United States, the report concluded. Of these eight radionuclides, the one of most concern is cesium-137 in the form of cesium chloride.

The report recommends that the federal government stop licensing, importing or exporting new cesium chloride irradiators, and that it provide incentives for older devices to be phased out.

Radioactive Medical Devices Could be Used to Make Dirty Bombs

January 16, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment