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N.Y. state police recently added high-sensitive radiation detectors which will enable police to better spot dirty bombs and other radioactive materials that may pass through Central New York

By Robert A. Baker
The Post-Standard

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — "Artificial radiation," intones a female voice over the electronic squeal of an alarm.
The cell phone-sized device in the state trooper's hand gave the warning as a Chevy Blazer with a trace amount of radioactive material inside drove by. The scene was part of a demonstration of the latest defense against terrorism Tuesday at the state fairgrounds in Geddes.
Artificial radiation, a trooper explained, is the kind that does not appear in nature but rather is man-made, such as plutonium. It's the kind of material that could show up in a terrorist's improvised nuclear device, or "dirty bomb."
The threat of a terrorist's nuclear device is the reason the detectors are now in the hands of two local police agencies, as well as state police, as the Office of Homeland Security expands its radiological security program into Central New York.
The hope is if a terrorist is transporting radioactive material to make a dirty bomb, police will be alerted to the material in transit, at the assembly point of the device or at the plot's launch site, said Frank Tabert, deputy director of the state Office of Homeland Security.
The detectors are paid for by grants from the Office of Homeland Security. Twelve police agencies statewide with bomb squads shared $1.4 million in grant money. The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office received $99,000 and Syracuse police received $110,000.
Deputy Chief Michael Kerwin, of the Syracuse police,
declined to say how many devices the city police have or how they are being deployed. He cited security concerns.
He said the grant will go for more purchases of the devices and for training.
Generally speaking, Kerwin said the devices usually are given to traffic units on the highways and used at large events downstate, such as Times Square on New Year's Eve.
The Sheriff's Office has four of the devices and has issued them to its bomb squad.
"It's just beginning," said Lt. Neal Hare.
The idea is to get them not only into the hands of police but also to fire departments and health departments, Hare said.
There are about 500 personal radiation detectors statewide in the hands of state police and local authorities now, Sgt. Richard Bytner, the state police's radiation program manager, said.
There is radiation naturally occurring everywhere, which is called background radiation, Bytner said. If the devices detect radiation more than six times the background radiation, an alarm sounds alerting the officer to a possible threat, Bytner said. If there's a high threat of terrorism, they can be made more sensitive, he said.
"They are working very well," Bytner said.
How well? Bytner said he experienced an alarm going off when the source of the radiation was 40 feet away and inside a car.
The personal radiation detectors announce the alert by a tone or a vibration and even a voice.
Radiation therapy patients in transit are the number one source of radiation alarms, Bytner said. Troopers will stop and question patients to verify the medical condition, he said. The second is radioactive materials in trucks that may not have been correctly labeled on the truck, he said.
Troopers displayed three types of radiation detectors, the personal model, and two larger, more sophisticated devices, Bytner said.
One resembles a radar gun, the other is a black, plastic box about the size of a 24-inch television set. These not only detect radioactive material but can also provide detailed information on the specific makeup of the radioactive material.
That information can be uploaded to federal agencies to help identify the threat, Bytner said. The large detector could be set up at a toll booth, a highway weigh station or set up to monitor people entering large events, Bytner said.
There have been no cases of thefts of radioactive material or any cases of terrorists using such a dirty bomb device, state police said.



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