Agency helps Greece defend against Olympic 'dirty bomb' attack

With the threat of terrorism looming over this year's Summer Olympics in Athens, the United States is helping Greece to deploy radiation detectors in a bid to prevent a radiological attack on the summer games.

The National Nuclear Security Administration and Greece are installing fixed radiation detectors at seven locations, focusing on border crossings, NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks told reporters Tuesday. Portable detectors will be used at other locations. Brooks said the detectors are similar to those used in the Energy Department's Second Line of Defense Program, designed to help Russia and other key countries detect trafficked nuclear material.

After Greece asked the International Atomic Energy Agency for help in heading off a potential "dirty bomb" attack, the U.N. agency in turn requested U.S. assistance with the project. Besides installing detectors, NNSA is giving the IAEA $500,000 for equipment to be used at Olympic venues.

NNSA is training Greek personnel to use and maintain the detection equipment, and is securing several sealed radiological sources in Greece. Brooks said NNSA is also in talks with Greece about providing technical assistance in the area of "emergency response systems."

Since the September 2001 terrorist attack on the United States, Brooks said, "It's become clear that there's another threat [besides the proliferation of nuclear weapon material], and that threat is radiological dispersal devices." NNSA activities abroad previously focused almost exclusively on fissionable materials.

Brooks told reporters the United States would have assisted Greece in detection efforts anyway but that the operation has been moved up because of the Olympics, slated to take place in August. "If you just simply look at where Greece is, you'll see that it's an interesting transshipment point," he said.

Greece's next major pre-Olympic WMD exercise is scheduled for Feb. 6-8 and is to involve police, the military, health services and other agencies. Representatives of the Olympic Security Advisory Group -- composed of Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States -- will observe.