U. chosen as pilot facility for radiation device security program

Under the 2009 National Infrastructure Protection Plan, Penn is currently collaborating with the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Department of Energy as the pilot facility for the improvement of irradiator security nationwide.

Commonly used for medical and scientific purposes, irradiators are devices that generate controlled amounts of radiation and apply them to target materials.

The University was chosen as the pilot facility as a result of the Environmental Health and Radiation Safety Department’s well-established relationship with the NNSA, according to Penn Director of Radiation Safety Robert Forrest.

Forrest collaborated earlier with the organization to evaluate and enhance irradiator security internationally.

When Congress funded the Global Threat Reduction Initiative for domestic work in 2008, EHRS volunteered Penn as the pilot facility.

Forrest named the “possibility of radioactive material being stolen and used in a Radiological Dispersal Device” — commonly known as a “dirty bomb” — as the most significant hazard of inadequate irradiator security.

Last March, Penn became the first non-governmental facility to be equipped with the “full complement” of security enhancements offered by the NNSA.

Among these enhancements are additional security systems, hardware added to irradiators to prevent easy access to radioactive material and Radiological Response Force training held at the Y-12 security complex for EHRS, along with Penn and Philadelphia Police.

Penn Police “was recognized by Y-12 as the ‘gold standard’ when it comes to the protection of campus research and medical irradiators and the response to irradiator security alarms,” Division of Public Safety Deputy Chief of Police Michael Fink wrote in an e-mail.

Fink serves as DPS’s lead contact and liaison to EHRS, the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homeland Security Division and the NNSA regarding the security and protection of campus irradiators, as well as the lead DPS contact regarding the detection of illicit radiological material on campus. In addition, he is DPS’s lead Personal Radiation Detector course trainer.

Forrest and Fink, along with Lieutenant Ed Baldini from the Philadelphia Police Department, have trained and certified nearly 50 Penn Police officers to investigate irradiator alarms and detect illicit radiological material while on patrol.

According to Fink, Y-12’s Response Force Training is the only program specifically designed to train “police and security officers to respond to irradiator alarms and suspected radioactive material incidents.”

He added that DPS regularly collaborates with city police to ensure the safety of campus irradiators, having previously held several joint field training exercises addressing the detection of radioactive material.

The organizations have also co-hosted several Personal Radiation Detection courses, attended by officers from Penn Police, Philadelphia Police and departments within Bucks and Montgomery Counties.

To expand the program throughout the city and promote the “private-public” partnership between the University and NNSA, Penn planned and hosted a meeting with NNSA and all other facilities in the city with similar devices and gave presentations on its involvement with the initiative to both domestic and international audiences.

“The Penn program was a successful pilot facility because all the groups involved … worked together to make it happen,” Forrest wrote in an e-mail. He added that Penn’s role as the pilot facility and close proximity to Washington, D.C. enabled those involved with the project to conduct regular site visits and meetings to discuss the program.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.