DPA
Friday, February 9, 2007

New York will become the first site for testing new machines that could detect nuclear devices or radio-active "dirty bombs," as part of efforts by the United States to repel possible terrorist attacks, The New York Times reported Friday.

The new detection devices will be installed in coming months first in Staten Island, one of five boroughs in the city of 8 million people. The machines will be installed at a port terminal to screen cargo and detect naturally occurring radiation and critical bomb building ingredients.

At a later stage, the US administration plans to set up an elaborate network of radiation alarm systems at bridges, tunnels, roadways and waterways within a 50-mile (80-kilometre) circle around the city, the Times said.

If the tests are successful, the US Department of Homeland Security, which has oversight over anti-terrorism measures in the nation, would expand the monitoring devices to other US cities.

"How do you create deterrence against terrorism?" asked Vayl S Oxar, the director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office at Homeland Security, cited by the paper. "You complicate the ability for the terrorist to do what they want."

New York's Police Commissioner Ray Kelly warned that the federal plan could overburden the ability of local authorities to maintain the sophisticated devices and manage anti-terrorism activities. City officials have been fighting with Homeland Security to increase funding and federal assistance in fighting terrorism since September 11, 2001.

"We are concerned they will put money forward for a piece of hardware and then move to another project," Kelly told the Times. "Whether or not it works, whether or not it causes too many false alarms, which causes a whole other set of problems, all of these things are still to be determined."

But Oxar responded that such possible problems were not enough to derail the project.

"Our philosophy is not to wait for perfection, because perfection never comes," said Oxar, whose office was created in 2005 amid criticism that Homeland Security's anti-terror measures were too disorganized.

Oxar's office has been focusing on two areas of attacks: nuclear weapons and dirty bombs. The latter relies on a crude explosive device to detonate and widely spread radioactive material.

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