Making a radioactive bomb is very easy for anyone in the US and can be lethal

Laura Strickler, Stephanie Gosk and Rich Schapiro —

All it takes to obtain enough radioactive material to build a

bomb is a bogus company and falsified licenses, federal authorities warn. 

A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO, in English), obtained exclusively by the news network NBC News, details the ease with which a criminal could get hold of the type of materials that could later be used to provoke "hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars" of damage.

The GAO, a nonpartisan congressional audit agency, called on the federal agency responsible for controlling the distribution of radioactive material, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), to immediately apply more stringent detection methods. 

“We already knew that

,” said Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee who commissioned the report. 

Radioactive Materials Purchased by Undercover Government Officials. US Government Accountability Office.

"There are real terrorist groups, including neo-Nazi groups in the United States, that have been trying to get a

bomb to launch real attacks on civilians," he said, "and now the GAO is telling us that it's incredibly easy for just about anyone to get their hands on them in the United States." ”, he added.

[The threat of extremist attacks grows due to immigration policies, Supreme Court decisions and elections]

The NRC told NBC News that it is taking action related to the problems identified in the report, including immediately contacting the manufacturers of the radioactive substances and speeding up a rule change to better verify purchase licenses. 

But he said the report's conclusions do not justify an urgent change in regulations: "Immediate imposition of safety requirements could have unintended effects on important and safe medical, academic and industrial uses of the materials."

Shots, panic and an escaped attacker: the chronicle of the new shooting that shakes New York

April 12, 202203:36

Radioactive materials are used throughout the United States for a variety of purposes, such as helping to treat cancer, sterilizing food, and medical instruments.

But given the possibility that they are used to create a dirty bomb, which uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material, the NRC regulates their sale and use.

[Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four others charged with seditious conspiracy for storming the Capitol]

According to the report, the need to closely monitor the distribution of radioactive substances is especially pressing today.

Officials at the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration told the GAO that assessments of the "threat environment show a growing interest in using radioactive material to make a dirty bomb," the report says.

The NRC requires a license to purchase minor amounts of radioactive material.

But GAO investigators discovered that these can be altered and used for illegal purchases. 

Investigators tested this by creating shell companies and forging licenses.

They contacted two suppliers in the United States and received invoices for the purchases.

After the vendors received payment, they sent the materials to investigators posing as company executives.

Donald Trump consulted a lawyer to reverse his electoral defeat

July 17, 202200:50

Investigators received an amount of Category 3 radioactive material, which is less than Category 1 or 2, but still enough to cause significant damage if dispersed using a

bomb .

Stricter rules apply to the purchase of a larger quantity of radioactive material, but the investigation found that a criminal could circumvent these by "purchasing multiple quantities of Category 3 from multiple suppliers," the report says.

Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the NRC "has the authority to address identified vulnerabilities."

"I urge you to take swift action to do so," he added, "this is a clear national security problem that the federal government must remedy."

The United States has already suffered cases of radioactive material falling into the wrong hands.

In April 2019, a Phoenix man, Jared Trent Atkins, stole three devices containing radiological material from his workplace and then took refuge inside his home in a confrontation with police.

He eventually turned himself in and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Jared Trent Atkins. Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

The new GAO report is not its first on radioactive material.

In March 2006, it published a report showing how radioactive material could be transported without a license through US ports of entry using a fraudulent license.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) subsequently took steps to resolve the issue, according to the GAO. 

And in a 2016 investigation, investigators secured purchase commitments for a dangerous amount of radioactive material after creating shell companies and altering a valid license.

The NRC has not yet implemented any of that report's recommendations, according to the new report.