The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should implement stronger controls for all categories of radioactive material for which it grants licenses, including the least dangerous category that currently falls outside of the same level of scrutiny, according to a July 15 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
The GAO conducted undercover tests through which it established three fake companies that submitted license applications to obtain a category 3 radioactive source. “GAO made no attempt to outfit the [physical] site to make it appear as if a legitimate business was operating there,” the report said.
The NRC rejected two of the applications, but in the third “the official from the regulatory body accepted GAO’s assurances without scrutinizing key aspects of the fictitious business, which led to a license being obtained,” it said.
Two of the fake companies were established in agreement states and one in an NRC state. There are 37 agreement states – including California, Texas, South Carolina, and Nevada – that are given regulatory authority by the NRC to issue radioactive material licenses.
The official from one of the NRC’s agreement states was assured that the fictitious company would “construct facilities, establish safety procedures, hire sufficient qualified staff, and construct secure storage areas” after obtaining a license, even though none of these steps had been taken by the time the application was approved.
This meant GAO could obtain a state license that would allow it to purchase multiple category 3 quantities of radioactive material, which would aggregate to a category 2 quantity of material that could be used to build a radiological “dirty bomb.”
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, category 3 quantities involve “less than 10 times the amount sufficient to cause permanent injury,” while category 1 sources are “1,000 times or more than the amount necessary to cause permanent human injury” and category 2 are “at least 10 times, but less than 1,000 times” the amount necessary.
The GAO said the NRC does not require tracking of category 3 materials in its National Source Tracking System, and that the agency does not mandate that the seller verify the validity of category 3 licenses, “creating risks that licenses could be counterfeited or that licensees could obtain radioactive materials in quantities greater than what is allowed by their licenses.”
The report recommended including category 3 sources in the tracking system, requiring transferors of that material to verify the validity of purchasers’ licenses, and “consider requiring” on-site security reviews for unknown category 3 license applicants.
NRC officials have since begun taking corrective actions, the report said, including updating training courses for NRC and agreement state inspectors. “We beefed up our training and retrained all the licensing staff to make sure they understand the importance of following procedures,” NRC spokeswoman Maureen Conley said.
Two NRC working groups have examined ways to enhance pre-licensing guidance for regulatory body officials and improve license verification and transfer of category 3 materials, she said. The working groups’ recommendations are being evaluated, she said, and “we will consider those in putting together a paper for our commission to consider either later this year or early next year.”
A July 15 letter from NRC Commissioner Jeff Baran to Chairman Stephen Burns and Commissioner Kristine Svinicki suggested that category 3 materials be considered under stricter requirements.
“I propose that the NRC staff take a fresh look at the question of whether and how to track Category 3 sources,” Baran wrote, proposing that within six months staff submit a paper evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of including category 3 sources in the tracking system.
Conley noted that the other two commissioners will be asked to vote on Baran’s proposal, the results of which would then become a memorandum providing direction to NRC staff. Baran has asked his colleagues for a response by July 29, Conley said.
