Lanka's first Radiological Security Incident Response Team:

STF ready for radiological protection missions

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

STF motor convoy transporting the protected radioactive material

Safety containers

Training in progress

The Special Task Force (STF) is the elite paramilitary force of the Sri Lanka Police Department. It has earned a high reputation for its involvement in maintaining law and order and uplifting security during the war against terrorism for a long time. From handling VIP security to disposing bombs and to rescuing victims of serious hostage drama the STF is being summoned in the most crucial scenarios pertaining to the national security. With this stature they have again been called into conduct a very serious task for the first time in the history.

STF ASP Athula Davulagala	Deputy Director Atomic Energy Authority Dr. Anil Ranjith

That is to create an emergency respondent unit to maintain security when handling radioactive chemical elements in the country. With the development of the technology the world has discovered hazardous radioactive chemicals that could be helpful in achieving various objectives. The harmful effects of the ionising radiation is used to create the weapons of mass destruction. Likewise this technology is widely used in the industry and medicine. Whilst some radioactive components are used to burn cancer cells some others are used for sterilisation processes.

Using radioactive elements in sterilisation process is one of the most sophisticated and highest paid industries in the world. Today the technology is so advanced that the decaying factor of a vegetable or a fruit can be ceased for a long time. For example gamma rays are used to kill the bacteria living inside a vegetable or a fruit that would lead to the natural decaying process of that product. In this way fruits and vegetables could be kept stored for a longer period and it is good for human consumption. Countries possessing developed technology including India use this system to preserve natural food. Food products like big onions and apple are being subjected to this radiation treatment which could be preserved for a long time.

Sterilisation

Apart from that this technology is also used for sterilisation processes at present. There are BOI approved companies in Sri Lanka that manufacture rubber products such as gloves and footwear that use this technology to sterilise their products. Manufacturing surgical gloves has been a very costly business in Sri Lanka for a long time as we did not possess this technology before. Earlier when surgical gloves are manufactured in Sri Lanka they had to be exported to Singapore to get them sterilised using the gamma ray technology.

Then again the sterilized batch of gloves had to be imported for the local usage.

Apart from the manufacturing cost the import and export cost as well as cost for the sterilization was very high. But with the establishment of such technology in the country it saved a lot of money and time.

Ansell Lanka (Pvt) Ltd is a BOI approved company that uses this latest sterilisation technology for their products such as medical gloves, industrial gloves and condoms. Radioactive material like Cobalt 60 could be used for sterilization process to kill any living bacteria in these products under a carefully controlled environment with sophisticated machinery.

Handling these radioactive material was done by countries with such license to do so and installing and removing of the chemicals and setting up of the equipment were handled by experts in Canada, USA etc. Specialised teams from such countries visited Sri Lanka to set up this process as well as to securely deposit the radioactive material in safe storages which will be used in the industry by using state of the art robotic machinery.

Since these radioactive material could be used for destructive purposes if fell in to the wrong hands, handling as well as transporting them to an exact location is a high risk involved task.

The private expert companies that involved in this task possess its own specialised security teams to act and respond if anything goes wrong that would pose a threat of exposing these material to the atmosphere. They are highly trained for any scenario even up to a terrorist attack launched to steal these hazardous material when being transported from one location to another. Likewise the rates these expert agencies charge to facilitate such services is very high even up to millions of dollars.

This is why Sri Lanka needed its own responding units to assure the safety of its own industries involved with handling radioactive chemicals. And this is where the STF come into play.

Several years ago the Atomic Energy Authority, the statuary body functioning under the Ministry of Technology, Research and Atomic Energy established under the Act No.19 of 1969 made a request from the International Atomic Energy Authority to consider granting rights to Sri Lanka to use radioactive material for industrial purposes. Radiation and Radioisotope Technology which has a wide range of applications in many areas can make a significant contribution to the development of medical, agricultural, industrial, energy and environmental sectors in Sri Lanka. The Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) has the responsibility of facilitating the utilisation of this technology in the above-mentioned sectors and ensuring that all uses of radiation and radioisotopes are carried out according to the internationally accepted safety standards.

Purpose

In response the local Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) was told that the country should possess its own qualified security respondent units to receive approval for the previous request and proceed with it. As a result the AEA in May 2011 wrote to then Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya to consider creating a special security respondent unit to serve this purpose. IGP Balasuriya who felt the importance of this task handed it over to the then STF Commandant DIG R W M C Ranawana.

The Commandant who felt the gravity of this request summoned his best man with experience in the related field to conduct a research on this. STF ASP Athula Davulagala who was one of the three founder members of the STF Bomb Disposal Unit was asked to conduct a presentation about the capabilities of the STF to a visiting group of experts from the USA. ASP Davulagala was one time the Chief Instructor of the STF with an immense experience as a specialised trainer in the areas of VIP Security, Bombs and Explosives Disposal. Having possessed a MSc. in Explosives Engineering from the University of Cranfield in UK.

In May 2011, a team of six US specialists accompanied by the American Ambassador who did a field visit to a number of STF camps and training centres, were given a presentation by ASP Davulagala. Having realised that the Sri Lankan elite force has the skill and potential to form a special respondent team, a group of officers including the ASP were invited for a special training program held in USA. Several officers including Davulagala took part at the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) Program organised by the US State Department in September 2011 regarding how to respond to an incident related to a radiological hazard.

Following that number of research programs were held locally until May this year where a special training program was held for the STF officials by the visiting experts as well as the officials of the Atomic Energy Authority. 23 skilled officers of the STF Special Weapons and Tactics Unit were selected for a seven day training course held at the STF Rear Headquarters in Gonahena from May 19 to 23. Three senior scientists lead by Deputy Director of AEA Dr. Anil Ranjith gave an in depth training to the participants on hazardous radioactive material and how to behave in an instance when the security and safety of these material is compromised.

Having completed this training course the special unit was set up under the name of Radiological Security Incident Respondent Team. The first mission of this team was held recently when some of the expiring radioactive material had to be removed out of the country to replace it with a new batch. On July 3 a special mission was designed to transport an outdated batch of Cobalt 60 capsules in a heavily secured container guarded by a special STF convoy from Ansell Lanka in Biyagama to the Colombo Harbour. The capsules which were deposited in heavy thick protective tanks were carried in a container guarded by several STF vehicles in a convoy and were transported with roads temporarily closed for regular traffic. Apart from the vehicles carrying armed troops the convoy was backed by a Bomb Disposal Unit, an ambulance, several Traffic Police motorcycles etc.

Operations

The mission was successfully carried out by the new unit proving that Sri Lanka is ready for such operations related to radiological security in the future. Speaking to Sunday Observer ASP Athula Davulagala said that the team is part of the three main components of the system which is Prevention, Detection and Response. The radioactive material used for industrial purposes are stored in highly secured locations with heavy security apparatus. If anybody tried to break into a facility through such security measurement it will indicate on various sensors and set off alarms. Secondly the system will detect the details of the intruders and lastly it will notify the respond team that is to arrive at the location in a shortest time possible.

He said that this special team is backed by various law enforcement authorities like the Criminal Investigation Department, State Intelligence Service, Police Legal Division, Police Health Division, Police Academy and most importantly the Disaster Management Centre. In a serious breach of security the DMC will be notified by the STF respondent team who will then follow the normal procedure on how to act in a crisis situation.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer Deputy Director Atomic Energy Authority Dr. Anil Ranjith said that setting up this Radiological Security Incident Respondent Team was a great achievement in the country. It will also enable the industrial activities related to radiological field which will immensely boost the country's economy.