NRC to expand radioactive materials tracking system

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants to significantly expand the number and type of radioactive materials the agency will track in a Web-based system under development.

Comment on this article in The Forum.The National Source Tracking System, which is to be fully implemented by Jan. 31, 2009, originally was conceived in late 2006 to account for the actions of 1,350 radioactive materials licensees who possess some of the most dangerous material from a security standpoint. Those are considered Category 1 and Category 2 sources, as determined by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and are typically used in medicine and manufacturing.

NRC's proposed rule, which the agency published Friday in the Federal Register, would require another 3,500 licensees and 17,000 additional radioactive sources to be subject to the tracking system. Affected licensees would have to report information on the manufacture, transfer, receipt, disassembly and disposal of radioactive materials, and manufacturers would have to assign a unique serial number to each source.

The rule would expand the tracking system to Category 3 sources along with some Category 4 sources, such as certain industrial gauges, well-logging and radiography devices.

"Expanding the [tracking system] will guard against the possibility that a small number of Category 3 or 4 radioactive sources could be collected to form a Category 2 amount of radioactive material," NRC noted in a written statement.

The possibility that an individual could amass enough radioactive material to build a dirty bomb was highlighted in 2007 when undercover investigators with the Government Accountability Office set up a fake company and acquired a radioactive materials license from NRC, which they then altered, using popular software, to obtain equipment containing sealed radioactive materials from U.S. suppliers.

The devices GAO attempted to obtain in the sting operation were moisture density gauges, which are commonly used in construction. They contain sealed quantities of americium, a radioactive material. While the devices alone or in small quantities would be difficult to render harmful, investigators determined they could relatively easily get suppliers to send them quantities of gauges that together contained enough radioactive material to build what's known as a dirty bomb -- a conventional explosive tainted with radioactive material -- assuming a potential bomb-maker could extract the sealed sources without harming himself or herself in the process.

"The NRC believes the additional cost to the agency and licensees of an expanded [tracking system] is reasonable given the additional improvement in accountability and control of radioactive sources," the agency said.

Agency staff compiled detailed cost information in an analysis of the proposed rule submitted to the commissioners on March 6.

The agency will accept public comments on the proposed rule for 75 days. Comments can be e-mailed to SECY@nrc.gov and submissions should be labeled RIN 3150-AI29.