The General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a report critical of the Department of Energy's program to recover unwanted radioactive sources. The GAO, in a report entitled "Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE Action Needed to Ensure Continued Recovery of Unwanted Sealed Radioactive Sources," found that the Department of Energy (DOE) has not made progress in providing for the permanent disposal of potentially dangerous greater-than-Class-C radioactive sealed sources and details problems facing DOE's Off-Site Source Recovery Program. In response to the report, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) has introduced legislation, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 2003, to require the Department of Energy to prepare a final depository for unwanted radioactive sources.
Radioactive devices are in everyday use in industry, medicine, agriculture, and research, and could be used by terrorists to construct a dirty bomb or radioactive dispersal device. Public Law 99-240, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, makes DOE responsible for disposing of unwanted greater-than-Class C sources. In the last 18 years, the Department has not begun the process of creating a depository.
In 2001, as chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services, Senator Akaka held hearings into the threat posed by dirty bombs. "I was concerned about terrorists using radioactive materials in sealed sources to produce a dirty bomb, and asked GAO to assess the control and security of these sources," said Senator Akaka. "A dirty bomb might not be a weapon of mass destruction, but it could be a weapon of mass disruption and terror. When exploded, it would disperse the radioactive materials, reducing the impact from radiation. But, if set off in an urban area, it would still cause death and destruction due to the explosion, and could cause panic and substantial economic damage.
Estimates range from 250,000 to 500,000 greater-than-Class-C sealed sources in the U.S., according to the GAO. These sources are of major concern because of their potential use in the fabrication of a dirty bomb. The GAO found that recovering unwanted sealed sources in this country has not been a priority for the Energy Department. The program has been underfunded and the Energy Department has not acted to create a permanent depository for these sources. "We have been particularly worried about the radioactive sources being stolen from the former Soviet Union, meanwhile an accurate tally of the radioactive devices in use in this country does not exist," Akaka said. "A central issue is what happens to unwanted radioactive devices. We don't have an exact count of unwanted devices in this country. Thousands of unwanted sources are awaiting recovery. Thousands more will need to be recovered."
In addition, almost 13 kilograms of plutonium-239 sources await recovery. Plutonium-239 can be used to fabricate a nuclear weapon. "The question of dirty bombs aside, there are one to two nuclear bombs worth of unwanted plutonium-239 sources that DOE cannot recover because they lack storage space," Senator Akaka noted. "Universities that have this material want to give it up, but cannot, because the DOE does not have the space to store them.
"The Secretary of Energy has made preventing a dirty bomb and recovering radioactive sources one of his highest priorities overseas. Yet, we don't see the DOE giving the recovery of radioactive sources in this country a high priority. My bill will strengthen the Department of Energy's efforts to recover dangerous unwanted sources."
Every state in the Union has radioactive sources that need to be recovered, according to a map in the GAO report. States with more than a 100 sources to be recovered include Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Texas. Another 25 states have between 10 and 100 sources to be recovered. The GAO report notes that many of these are small sources with small amounts of radiation but hundreds are larger sources with large amounts of radioactivity.
The legislation offered by Senator Akaka will designate a DOE office to take responsibility for creating a permanent storage facility; require several reports laying out the steps for DOE to create a permanent depository, including how to proceed with an Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision; and require a report on what to do until a depository opens.
