[en] The usual assumption of the acceleration of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays, greater than or equal to 10¹⁸ eV in quasars, Seyfert galaxies, and other active galactic nuclei is challenged on the basis of the photon interactions with the accelerated nucleons. This is similar to the effect of the black body radiation on particles > 10²⁰ eV for times of the age of the universe except that the photon spectrum is harder and the energy density greater by approx. = 10¹³. Hence, a single traversal, radial or circumferential, of radiation whose energy density is no greater than the emitted flux will damp an ultrahigh energy cosmic ray 10²⁰ eV by greater than 10⁴ times its energy. Hence, it is unlikely that any reasonable configuration of acceleration can avoid disastrous photon energy loss. A different site for ultrahigh energy cosmic ray acceleration must be found