Report Calls for Securing Medical Devices

 A new report calls on officials to secure popular medical devices in the United States for fear that terrorists could build a bomb with them.

The document seeks a $200 million investment from the U.S. Defense and Homeland Security departments to make sure medical equipment that uses radioactive isotopes are secure.

The Defense Science Board, a committee of experts assigned by the Defense Department to do research, said blood irradiators using cesium-137 radioactive isotopes could potentially cause a security threat. 

Officials said the equipment could be used to construct a dirty bomb in a metropolitan area.

Critics of the report say the blood irradiator equipment is critical for ensuring blood products for transfusions and other reasons are safe.