Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation’s vulnerability to attacks using nuclear weapons or “dirty bombs” is worsened by its own poorly funded, ill-coordinated efforts to stop the smuggling of radioactive materials, the General Accounting Office said Wednesday.
Citing 181 incidents in which nuclear materials were smuggled over the past decade, GAO said the six federal agencies involved do not work together and use different methods of detecting radiation at border crossings. Investigators said the United States has spent nearly $90 million on efforts that include outfitting more than 30 other countries with radiation detection equipment but has not installed the same gear at U.S. border crossings.
“Basically, we’re doing more to protect the borders of Russia than we’re doing to protect our own,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who asked for the report from GAO, the investigative branch of Congress.