More Work Needed to Defend Against Radiological Terrorism

September 11, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Leah Fae Cochran

Poorly secured - Radiological materials used in hospitals that could be used to build a “dirty bomb” are poorly secured in four out of five hospitals and medical facilities nationwide, according to a new GAO report.

--“Medical facilities currently are not required to take any specific actions to make sure these materials are safe, and many have very sloppy practices, which is remarkable nearly 11 years after 9/11," states the report. Anne Gearan of The Washington Post has the story. http://wapo.st/OB9Z85

GAO report here - “Additional Actions Needed to Improve Security of Radiological Sources at U.S. Medical Facilities” (pdf) http://1.usa.gov/SATr62

Modeling - The IAEA has received intelligence that shows Iran has “advanced its work on calculating the destructive power of an atomic warhead through a series of computer models that it ran sometime within the past three years,” reports George Jahn of AP. “The IAEA first outlined its suspicions in November that Iran was working on how to calculate the yield of a nuclear weapon.” The latest intelligence builds upon those concerns. Full story here. http://yhoo.it/NmkqPJ

Continuing resolution - The House Appropriations Committee submitted a continuing budget resolution that includes some nuclear exceptions. The bill would increase NNSA weapons activities above last year’s levels, bringing the total in line with to the President’s budget request of $7.6 billion for FY13. The bill would also provide $100 million for domestic uranium enrichment research and development. http://bit.ly/OchLUr

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Tweet - @lrozen: Ex-IDF CoS Gen. Dan Halutz @BrookingsFP on October surprise: 'My feeling is no one is going to surprise no one in near future.'”

Circles - Yukiya Amano, director general of the IAEA, expressed frustration with Iran and renewed calls for full-access to Parchin, the site suspected to be involved in past weapons-relevant research, reports Reuters.

-- "We need to stop going around in circles discussing process,” said Amano. “Iran has the obligation to fully cooperate with us." Full story here. http://reut.rs/Paa3uQ

China & BMD - The locations of the United States’ forward deployed missile tracking radars in East Asia are not well suited for defending against a missile launch from North Korea. They are better situated to track or defend against missile launches from China toward the Western Pacific or Taiwan, writes Li Bin of the Carnegie Endowment.

--This could be a concern to China. “To avoid a confrontation, Washington and Beijing should prioritize establishing a constructive dialogue on conventional military issues in addition to the existing strategic nuclear dialogue,” writes Li. http://bit.ly/RCFnHI

Community news - “After eight successful years of promoting U.S. global engagement, the Connect U.S. Fund is winding down its operations and grant-making. We want to thank our incredible community members – our grassroots colleagues, those inside the Beltway, our very generous donors, and everyone else who has joined our efforts,” write Connect U.S. Fund President Nancy Soderberg and Executive Director Alexandra Toma. http://bit.ly/P84L4B

Tweet - @lrozen: Pres. Obama today nominated Rose @Gottemoeller to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control & Int'l Security