[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2684 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2684

  To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to establish a task force to 
 identify legislative and administrative actions that can be taken to 
ensure the security of sealed sources of radioactive material, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 2002

 Mrs. Clinton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to establish a task force to 
 identify legislative and administrative actions that can be taken to 
ensure the security of sealed sources of radioactive material, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Dirty Bomb Prevention Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. SEALED SOURCE SECURITY.

    (a) Amendment.--Chapter 14 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 170C. SEALED SOURCE SECURITY.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Sealed source.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `sealed source' means a 
                byproduct material or special nuclear material licensed 
                by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that is sealed in 
                a container designed to prevent leakage of the 
                byproduct material or special nuclear material from the 
                container.
                    ``(B) Exclusion.--The term `sealed source' does not 
                include fuel or spent fuel.
            ``(2) Security threat.--The term `security threat' means--
                    ``(A) a threat of sabotage or theft of a sealed 
                source;
                    ``(B) a threat of use of a sealed source in a 
                radiological dispersal device; and
                    ``(C) any other threat of terrorist or other 
                criminal activity involving a sealed source that could 
                harm the health or safety of the public.
            ``(3) Task force.--The term `task force' means the task 
        force on sealed source security established by subsection 
        (b)(1).
    ``(b) Task Force on Sealed Source Security.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--There is established a task force on 
        sealed source security.
            ``(2) Membership.--The task force shall be composed of--
                    ``(A) the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory 
                Commission, who shall act as chairperson of the task 
                force;
                    ``(B) the Secretary of Energy;
                    ``(C) the Secretary of Transportation;
                    ``(D) the Attorney General;
                    ``(E) the Secretary of State;
                    ``(F) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
                    ``(G) the Director of the Central Intelligence 
                Agency;
                    ``(H) the Director of the Federal Emergency 
                Management Agency; and
                    ``(I) the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
                Investigation.
    ``(c) Duties.--
            ``(1) In general.--The task force shall--
                    ``(A) evaluate the security of sealed sources 
                against security threats; and
                    ``(B) identify administrative and legislative 
                actions to be taken to provide the maximum practicable 
                degree of security against security threats.
            ``(2) Participation.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        task force shall solicit, and give due consideration to, the 
        views of--
                    ``(A) other Federal agences and State and local 
                agencies; and
                    ``(B) stakeholders, persons in industry and 
                academia with relevant expertise, and the public.
            ``(3) Considerations.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        task force shall consider administrative and legislative 
        actions to--
                    ``(A) establish a classification system for sealed 
                sources that--
                            ``(i) is based on the potential for use by 
                        terrorists of sealed sources and the extent of 
                        the threat to public health and safety posed by 
                        that potential; and
                            ``(ii) takes into account--
                                    ``(I) radioactivity levels of 
                                sealed sources;
                                    ``(II) the dispersibility of sealed 
                                sources;
                                    ``(III) the chemical and material 
                                form of sealed sources; and
                                    ``(IV) other appropriate factors;
                    ``(B) establish a national system for recovery of 
                sealed sources that are lost or stolen, taking into 
                account the classification system established under 
                subparagraph (A);
                    ``(C) provide for the storage of sealed sources not 
                currently in use in a safe and secure manner;
                    ``(D) establish a national tracking system for 
                sealed sources, taking into account the classification 
                system established under subparagraph (A);
                    ``(E) establish--
                            ``(i) a national system to impose fees to 
                        be collected from users of sealed sources, to 
                        be refunded when the sealed sources are 
                        returned or properly disposed of; or
                            ``(ii) any other method to ensure the 
                        return or proper disposal of sealed sources;
                    ``(F) modify export controls on sealed sources 
                necessary to ensure that foreign recipients of sealed 
                sources are willing and able to control sealed sources 
                that originate in the United States in the same manner 
                as recipients in the United States; and
                    ``(G) establish procedures to improve the security 
                of sealed sources in use, transportation, and storage.
            ``(4) Procedures to improve security.--The actions to 
        improve the security of sealed sources under paragraph (3)(G) 
        may include--
                    ``(A) periodic audits or inspections by the 
                Commission to ensure that sealed sources are properly 
                secured and can be fully accounted for;
                    ``(B) evaluation by the Commission of security 
                measures taken by persons that possess sealed sources;
                    ``(C) imposition of increased fines for violations 
                of regulations relating to security and safety measures 
                applicable to licensees that possess sealed sources;
                    ``(D) conduct of background checks on individuals 
                with access to sealed sources;
                    ``(E) measures to ensure the physical security of 
                facilities that contain sealed sources; and
                    ``(F) screening of shipments of sealed sources to 
                facilities that are particularly at risk for sabotage 
                to ensure that the shipments do not contain explosives.
            ``(5) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of this section, and not less frequently than once 
        every 3 years thereafter, the task force shall submit to the 
        President and Congress a report in unclassified form (with a 
        classified annex, if necessary) describing the administrative 
        and legislative actions identified under paragraph (1)(B).
    ``(d) Administrative Action.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
of submission of the report under subsection (c)(5), the Commission 
shall take such actions as are necessary to--
            ``(1) revise the system for licensing sealed sources to 
        adopt all of the administrative measures identified in the 
        report that are within the authority of the Commission to 
        adopt; and
            ``(2) ensure that States that have entered into an 
        agreement under section 274b. establish compatible programs in 
        a timely manner.
    ``(e) National Academy of Sciences Study.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Commission shall enter into an 
        arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences for a study 
        of--
                    ``(A) the industrial, research, and commercial uses 
                of sealed sources; and
                    ``(B) means of developing alternatives to the use 
                of sealed sources.
            ``(2) Requirements.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        National Academy of Sciences shall--
                    ``(A) review the current uses of sealed sources; 
                and
                    ``(B) identify industrial processes and other 
                processes that use sealed sources that could be 
                replaced with economically and technically equivalent, 
                or improved, processes that do not require the use of 
                sealed sources.
            ``(3) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Commission shall transmit to 
        Congress the report of the National Academy of Sciences on the 
        results of the study.''.
    (b) Conforming and Technical Amendment.--The table of contents of 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. prec. 2011) is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 170A the following:

``Sec. 170B. Uranium supply.
``Sec. 170C. Sealed source security.''.
                                 <all>