For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary Contact: 202-282-8010

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) announced today the graduation of the first of the Advanced Radiation Detection (ARD) course in Las Vegas, Nev. The 5-day course focuses on the preventive radiological and nuclear detection (PRND) mission and provides participants from state, local, and municipal jurisdictions with the skills needed to detect and investigate the potential malicious use of radioactive or nuclear material.

"The Advanced Radiation Detection course is the capstone course in the national preventive radiological and nuclear detection curriculum," said Vayl S. Oxford, DNDO director. "This curriculum aids state and local jurisdictions in joining the national radiological and nuclear detection mission."

ARD course graduates learned skills in detecting radioactive material, assessing detection instrument alarms, and adjudicating radiological and nuclear alarms.

In addition to the ARD course, the national PRND curriculum consists of an 8-hour Personal Radiation Detector (PRD) course and a 16-hour Radioisotope entification Device (RIID) course. The PRD and RIID courses are prerequisites for students attending the ARD course.

DNDO oversees and executes the national PRND training and exercise policy, which offers federal, state, and local law enforcement and emergency responders the opportunity to enhance local PRND capabilities.

DNDO is a jointly staffed office that was established in 2005 to improve and to further enhance the nation's capability to detect nuclear or radiological material that may be used against the homeland.