HOW HE SEES IT U.S. must act against dirty bomb threat

By LEE H. HAMILTON
KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE
WASHINGTON -- From time to time since Sept. 11, you may have heard experts and government officials utter words of warning about "dirty bombs," which are conventional explosives packed with radioactive materials.
The explosion of a dirty bomb would be no different from a conventional explosion, whereas a nuclear explosion is thousands of times stronger. But the dirty bomb presents its own daunting threat: once the conventional bomb explodes, the radioactive material spreads in the surrounding area.
In the immediate aftermath, people in the area could be exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, and chaos could ensue as they panic and try to flee. In the long term, the exposed area would be contaminated, rendering it off limits for months, even years, with people in close proximity vulnerable to cancer.
If this took place in a major metropolitan area like lower Manhattan, the cost in disrupted business and cleanup could tally into the hundreds of billions of dollars. The psychological impact would be harrowing.
Medical equipment
What keeps security officials up at night is the concern that a dirty bomb is relatively easy to put together. There are hundreds of thousands of radioactive sources around the globe, ranging from weapons-grade plutonium or uranium used in nuclear bombs to more widely disseminated materials used in certain industries. Radioactive sources can be extracted from basic medical equipment or food irradiation machines.
Most countries lack strict regulations or enforcement on the use of these materials. Meanwhile, we know Al-Qaida has been trying to acquire these materials.
So what can we do to protect ourselves?
First, we must continue to work with Russia and other countries to locate and destroy dangerous materials from the former Soviet Union.
Former Soviet republics are littered with a variety of radioactive sources, often poorly guarded or improperly disposed. We should increase the resources and priority that we affix to this challenge, so we can get to these materials before the terrorists do.
We also need to build a global coalition committed to stricter controls on the use and transfer of radioactive sources. We should insist that all countries meet a standard set by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or be denied access to trade involving radioactive sources. For this to work, the U.S. and its allies should provide assistance to countries toughening standards for monitoring or disposing these materials within their borders.
Good start
We need tough measures to interdict illicit radioactive sources in transit. The Bush administration's Proliferation Security Initiative is a good start. We should work harder to tighten security at ports and develop screening technologies so that radioactive sources in shipping containers can be detected and legally intercepted. Russia's participation will be critical.
At home, public education must be a priority. Local responders should know how to evacuate and seal off an area. Hospitals should know how to treat exposed patients. The Department of Homeland Security must continue to lead the grim task of preparing for any contingency.
The good news is there are concrete steps we can take to prevent a dirty bomb attack or reduce its effect: by securing the use and transport of dangerous materials, developing technologies to detect or replace radioactive sources, and preparing ourselves at home.
A dirty bomb may be one of the terrorists' preferred means of attack. A comprehensive strategy can make it one of the methods we are most prepared to prevent.
X Lee H. Hamilton is the vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission, the director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the former chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.