Ridding city hosps of ‘dirty bomb’ devices

The city took an extraordinary step Wednesday to ensure that terrorists don’t get their hands on radioactive material, announcing that all hospital devices that could be used in a “dirty bomb” are being replaced.

Officials said there are 28 devices remaining, including those used in blood transfusions, at 12 major hospitals and medical schools.

All are expected to be gone by 2023 at the latest under a $10 million effort involving the city’s Health Department, the NYPD, the US Department of Energy and the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative.

“While many of them have saved countless lives through cancer research and blood-transfusion preparation, we must limit their risk of becoming objects for terror,” said Dr. Mary Bassett, the city’s health commissioner.

The feds and the city have been ironing out the plan for the past two years and have already replaced two of the original 30 devices.

The Energy Department is covering 50 percent of the estimated $250,000 cost to replace each machine as well as all disposal expenses.

Dirty bombs combine radiological material with explosives that, when detonated, disperse radioactive material.

There has never been a dirty bomb attack on the US.