NEW YORK, NY December 22, 2007 —$40 million for a radiological detection network for the New York region is one of the things buried in a half-trillion-dollar spending bill on President Bush's desk. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the New York metro area will be the first in the country with this network of detectors designed to identify a potential radioactive dirty bomb.

KELLY: The goal is to establish a ring of concentric circles of state of the art radiation detection equipment to protect the city against radiological material from being brought into the city.

REPORTER: Kelly says the program will be coordinated by the NYPD. It will link 200 police agencies that surround the city in both New York and New Jersey.

A White House spokesman says the president is likely to sign the spending bill. New York was the first city to pay for a mapping of existing background radiation levels. That way, it can better detect any future anomalies like a dirty bomb.

For WNYC, I'm Bob Hennelly.