RADIOLOGICAL WEAPONS: IAEA Chief seeks tougher security by UN Wire UN Foundation 3:40pm 12th Mar, 2003   11th March, 2003    International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei today urged countries to step up security measures related to radioactive material in order to head off the possibility of a terrorist attack with a radiological "dirty bomb."    "It is clear that additional security measures are urgently needed," said ElBaradei, pointing to recent reports of terrorist attempts to get radioactive material for use alongside conventional explosives.    By setting off a bomb combining radioactive material and conventional explosives in an urban area, experts believe, a terrorist could create panic and make the area uninhabitable for a time because of health risks associated with radiation exposure.    ElBaradei said some countries are reviewing regulations of radioactive material in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States but that many other countries have yet to take up the matter.    "While a number of countries are stepping up relevant security measures, many others lack the resources ... to effectively control radioactive sources," said ElBaradei, who cited 280 known cases of criminal trafficking of radioactive material (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, March 11).    ElBaradei's remarks came at the first dirty bomb conference, a three-day Vienna affair attended by hundreds of scientists and government officials and hosted by the United States and Russia.    Russia's atomic energy minister, Alexander Rumyantsev, said Moscow is "ready to solve" problems related to its stores of radioactive material (Associated Press/CNN.com, March 11).    U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced $3 million in aid over the next year to help developing countries track down radioactive material. "The threat requires a determined and comprehensive international response," Abraham said. "It is our responsibility to determine how to prevent such an attack in the first place and how to respond if, despite all our best efforts, such an attack occurs anyway" (Charles Hanley, AP/Yahoo! News, March 11). Visit the related web page
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