Should states get in the nuclear detection business?
DHS has recently released its grant guidelines for FY 2006, which include details on all of the key DHS-administered grant programs for the current year. The full document is available here.
The guidelines seem similar to those last year, with one notable exception: the section on the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) and its relationship to state & local grant programs. To quote:
DNDO encourages States and regions to implement a comprehensive nuclear detection program capable of detecting nuclear weapons and radiological dispersal devices in support of and in concert with the national global nuclear detection architecture. DNDO believes that implementation of a comprehensive program will take several years, and will require substantial interstate and Federal coordination. As such, DNDO intends, to the extent possible, to partner with State, local, and Tribal agencies choosing to implement nuclear detection systems with regard to architecture design, subsystem configuration, upgrades and coordinated operations, communications and interoperability.
I’ve heard little in the past about involving states and cities in the nuclear detection business, rather than keeping this operationally at the federal level. There could be some long-run benefits from going down this path, but it’s not going to be easy, particularly in terms of training people to carry out nuclear detection and response activities.
