WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has set up a new facility to help identify radiation exposure levels.
"In the event of a nuclear or radiological accident or terrorist attack, NNSA's new Cytogenetics Biodosimetry Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., will be able to help determine the amount of radiation that a potential victim has been exposed to so that physicians can better formulate treatment plans," the NNSA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy, said in a statement.
"Determining the amount of radiation exposure can ultimately mean the difference between life and death for the victims," said Joseph Krol, the head of NNSA's emergency operations. "This facility is absolutely unique within the civilian community and it will help to ensure that our nation is ready and able to respond to a nuclear emergency. We are very pleased that NNSA was able to provide the federal leadership necessary to re-establish this important national security capability."
"Cytogenetic biodosimetry is a proven method for accurately estimating how much exposure a person has had to radiation," the NNSA statement said. "A cytogenetics laboratory operated at Oak Ridge until 1998, and after that the military had the nation's only cytogenetic capability.
"With the increased focus on nuclear terrorism since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NNSA decided to re-establish civilian cytogenetic capabilities by constructing an improved laboratory," the statement said. "The new CBL was jointly funded by NNSA, the Department of Energy's Office of Worker Safety and Health, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission," it said.
The NNSA said the new lab would be run as part of its Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site, or REAC/TS, in the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.
