Govt. secures dirty bomb components

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. government is taking steps to make it more difficult for terrorists to steal material for radioactive bombs from U.S. hospitals and research labs.

Officials at the Homeland Security and Energy department say machines used to irradiate blood will be retrofitted so their cesium chloride can't be easily removed, USA Today reported Wednesday.

The cesium contained in just one machine would be enough for a terrorist to make a radioactive dirty bomb, said Vayl Oxford, head of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office.

Oxford says the retrofitting "will help keep potentially dangerous material safe and secure from theft or misuse."

Concern about security at medical facilities took on a new urgency last year when special government teams found they were able to break into irradiation machines and remove the cesium chloride in as little as two minutes.

Richard Falkenrath, counter terrorism chief for the New York Police Department, says the retrofits are "long overdue."