In 2004, the United State’s Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration established the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) to, as quickly as possible, identify, secure, remove and/or facilitate the disposition of high-risk vulnerable nuclear and radiological materials around the world that pose a threat to the United States and the international community. While many sources of potentially dangerous amounts of nuclear material had been previously identified and secured with the assistance of their respective nations of origin, there still existed many so-called “soft targets” that used such isotopes for legitimate scientific and research purposes which could provide terrorists, with the building blocks for an effective weapon of mass destruction, namely a radiological dispersal device (RDD), or “dirty bomb.” Such soft targets include facilities that do not have the intrinsic security that a military or governmental research facility might enjoy, and examples include healthcare facilities (especially those that have significant oncology services where such isotopes are routinely used), academic institutions and civilian research facilities.
Since its inception, the Global Threat Reduction Initiative program has accelerated its nuclear security efforts and made significant progress to reduce the risk posed by these vulnerable civilian nuclear and radiological material storage sites. To date, physical protection upgrades have been completed in more than 40 countries at more than 960 radiological sites, including industrial, medical and commercial facilities. Since May 2004, GTRI secured more than 1,000 vulnerable radiological sites around the world containing more than 10,000,000 curies – enough for approximately 10,000 dirty bombs.