Senators Angry Over Security Lapses at US Borders
Jim Kouri, CPP
March 29, 2006
Senators are demanding that the Homeland Security Department intensify their efforts to strengthen border security after radioactive material was surreptitiously brought into the US at both Canadian and Mexican borders.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the quantity of Cesium-137 was enough to build two dirty bombs. But the Nuclear Regulatory Commission claims the report is exaggerated and there is as much radioactive material in an American smoke detector.
The Senate's Homeland Security Committee began hearings on Tuesday to discuss the undercover operation by the investigators hired by the Government Accountability Office.
The investigators crossed into the US from both borders almost simultaneously with the material, despite radiation detection alarms going off when they went through. According to the GAO, the customs agents let them through after being shown fake identification and paperwork.
During the Homeland Security Committee hearings, senators they believed the success of the undercover agents was "an alarming wake-up call."
"If terrorists were to obtain nuclear or radiological material and smuggle it into this country, the consequences could be catastrophic," said Republican Senator Susan Collins, the chairwoman of the panel.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its report on the incident: "The [Customs and Border Patrol] inspectors never questioned the authenticity" of the documents shown. The radioactive material was bought from a commercial source by telephone, according to the GAO report.
The GAO said the radioactive material was enough for two dirty bombs -- devices that use conventional explosives to spread dangerous radiation over a wide area. It also reports that the installation of over 3,000 radiation detectors at US border crossings, seaports, airports and mail facilities was taking longer and costing more than anticipated.
"This operation demonstrated that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [NRC] is stuck in a pre-9/11 mindset in a post-9/11 world and must modernize its procedures," said Republican Senator Norm Coleman, the chairman of the Senate committee.
But NRC spokesman David McIntyre defended his body and denied that there was enough material to make two bombs, according to the Associated Press.
"It was basically the radioactive equivalent of what's in a smoke detector," he told AP.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the quantity of Cesium-137 was enough to build two dirty bombs. But the Nuclear Regulatory Commission claims the report is exaggerated and there is as much radioactive material in an American smoke detector.
The Senate's Homeland Security Committee began hearings on Tuesday to discuss the undercover operation by the investigators hired by the Government Accountability Office.
The investigators crossed into the US from both borders almost simultaneously with the material, despite radiation detection alarms going off when they went through. According to the GAO, the customs agents let them through after being shown fake identification and paperwork.
During the Homeland Security Committee hearings, senators they believed the success of the undercover agents was "an alarming wake-up call."
"If terrorists were to obtain nuclear or radiological material and smuggle it into this country, the consequences could be catastrophic," said Republican Senator Susan Collins, the chairwoman of the panel.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in its report on the incident: "The [Customs and Border Patrol] inspectors never questioned the authenticity" of the documents shown. The radioactive material was bought from a commercial source by telephone, according to the GAO report.
The GAO said the radioactive material was enough for two dirty bombs -- devices that use conventional explosives to spread dangerous radiation over a wide area. It also reports that the installation of over 3,000 radiation detectors at US border crossings, seaports, airports and mail facilities was taking longer and costing more than anticipated.
"This operation demonstrated that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [NRC] is stuck in a pre-9/11 mindset in a post-9/11 world and must modernize its procedures," said Republican Senator Norm Coleman, the chairman of the Senate committee.
But NRC spokesman David McIntyre defended his body and denied that there was enough material to make two bombs, according to the Associated Press.
"It was basically the radioactive equivalent of what's in a smoke detector," he told AP.
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