USA to cooperate with Russia in the struggle against "dirty bomb"

The governments of the USA and Russia, supported by the IAEA, will organise a special international conference devoted to ensuring security of radiological materials. The conference is scheduled for the middle of March 2003 in Vienna, US Energy Secretary Spenser Abraham told journalists in Washington on Wednesday during a joint press conference with the IAEA director general, Mohamed El Baradei, who is now staying in the US capital.

Abraham stressed that the civil radiological devices widely used in medicine and industry can be also employed by terrorists when making "dirty bombs" for radioactive pollution. He also pointed out that the international community should elaborate a plan for non-proliferating radiological materials and preventing terrorists from their possession.

Despite the fact that "the dirty bombs" cannot be compared, as for their destructive force, with nuclear weapons, it is much easier to assemble and use them, Abraham warned.

He also pointed out that he was looking forward to working, at the forthcoming Vienna conference, with Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev and IAEA director general Mohamed El Baradei on the strengthening of international security in the sphere of radiological materials.