NRC: News Release - 2006-006 - NRC Seeks Public Comment on Radiation Source Protection And Security

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NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs	Telephone: 301/415-8200
Washington, DC 20555-0001	E-mail: opa@nrc.gov
www.nrc.gov

No. 06-006

January 12, 2006

NRC SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON RADIATION SOURCE PROTECTION
AND SECURITY
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting public comment on several issues concerning the protection and security of radiation sources, as part of its requirements under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The legislation established the Radiation Source Protection and Security Task Force, with the NRC as its chair, to evaluate and provide recommendations relating to the security of radiation sources in the United States from potential criminal or terrorist threats, including acts of sabotage, theft or use of a radiation source in a radiological dispersal device ("dirty bomb"). The task force is comprised of representatives from NRC; the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, Energy, Transportation, Justice, State and Health and Human Services; the Director of National Intelligence; the Central Intelligence Agency; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Details on the task force and the request for comment are available in a Federal Register notice published Jan. 11. The task force’s efforts are concerned primarily with Category 1 and Category 2 sources as defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources. (These are considered sources of greatest concern from a security standpoint; examples include but are not limited to sources used in irradiators, radiography and certain radiation cancer treatments.) Spent nuclear fuel and special nuclear materials (plutonium and uranium isotopes) are excluded.

The topics on which the NRC is seeking comment include: (1) the list of sources requiring security because of their public health risk or potential attractiveness to terrorists; (2) the national system for recovery of lost or stolen radiation sources; (3) safe and secure storage of radiation sources when not in use; (4) the national source tracking system for radiation sources; (5) a national system for proper disposal of radiation sources; (6) import and export controls; (7) procedures for improving security and control for use and storage of radiation sources; (8) procedures for improving the security of transportation of sources; (9) background checks for individuals with access to sources; and (10) alternative technologies that could perform all or some of the functions that use radiation sources.

Comments may be submitted through Feb. 10 to Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mail Stop T6-D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., 20555-0001; by e-mail to NRCREP@nrc.gov; or by fax to (301) 415-5144. Please mark all comments "RSPS-TF" in the subject line.