Law enforcement agencies across the country will soon be better equipped to protect our nation against the threat of radiological terrorism under a new program initiated by the Department of Energy and the Department of Justice.

DOE, through its Oak Ridge Operations, in cooperation with the Dept. of Justice Office of Domestic Preparedness is transferring about 1,000 radiation survey instruments and other radiological detection devices to fire and police departments and emergency management organizations in major cities across the U.S.

"During last year's State of the Union address, President Bush asked for America's help in winning the war on terrorism. A group of DOE staffers in Oak Ridge heard his plea and took it to heart and started looking for ways to help," said U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp. "We shouldn't be surprised by this though, Tennessee has long been known as the Volunteer State and this group of men and women were simply stepping forward to aid our country."

 The Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse (HDER) Program will provide excess radiological detection instrumentation and other equipment to state and local emergency first responder agencies. The program is part of the larger federal effort to enhance the equipment and training available our nation's first responders.

 "We obviously want to do anything we can to aid in the war on terrorism," said Richard Meehan with DOE-Oak Ridge's Office of Assets Utilization. "By equipping and training law enforcement officials with these devices, we're providing them with another line of defense in protecting our nation."

The equipment comes from DOE sites across the nation, and is evaluated and refurbished by radiation equipment specialists through DOE's Office of Assets Utilization, National Center of Excellence for Materials Recycle in Oak Ridge. The Oak Ridge group is in charge of DOE?s asset recovery and recycle objectives of reducing administrative requirements and costs associated with storage, processing and disposal of unneeded equipment.

Before it reaches the hands of law enforcement, each instrument is transferred to The Oak Ridge National Recycle Center (TORNRC) for evaluation and repairs if needed, then a list of available equipment is provided to the DOJ. From there, the DOJ notifies the potential users of what is available. TORNRC then assembles customized kits for delivery to the DOJ or directly to the law enforcement agency at no cost. DOJ provides training to the new owners in proper usage of gamma radiation detection equipment.

The instruments will be provided to the nation's 10 largest metropolitan areas, which include: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Additional information on the HDER Program can be obtained at the DOE?s website at http://www.oakridge.doe.gov or at the DOJ?s website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov.