[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 59 (Monday, May 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4648-S4649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. AKAKA:
  S. 979. A bill to strengthen United States capabilities to secure 
sealed sources of nuclear materials from terrorists; to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Safe Storage 
of Radiological Materials Act of 2005 to prevent sealed radioactive 
sources, which can be used to create ``dirty bombs,'' from getting into 
the hands of terrorists. This bill is similar to S. 1045, the Low-Level 
Radioactive Waste Act, which I introduced in 2003.
  Since September 11, 2001, the Congress has faced the challenge of 
anticipating where the next attack on the United States will come from 
and in what form it will come. It is important to weigh where to invest 
precious security resources, knowing everything can't be protected. 
Many vulnerabilities deserve serious attention. Some can be addressed 
with relative ease.
  Thousands of unwanted sealed radioactive sources are currently held 
by the private sector, research institutions, and medical laboratories 
where these sources are generally unprotected and accessible. An April 
2003 report I requested from the Government Accountability Office, GAO, 
entitled ``Nuclear Proliferation: DOE Action Needed to Ensure Continued 
Recovery of Unwanted Sealed Radioactive Sources,'' stated that ``if 
these sealed sources fell into the hands of terrorists, they could be 
used as simple and crude but potentially dangerous radiological 
weapons, commonly called dirty bombs.'' Most experts agree that it 
would not require much scientific expertise or funding to cobble 
together a dirty bomb from radioactive material. In other words, the 
required materials are accessible and the assembly is relatively 
rudimentary.
  The GAO report focused on greater-than-class-C, GTCC, sealed sources. 
GTCC radiological sources are the ``high end'' of the continuum of low-
level radioactive waste. Class A, B, and C wastes can generally be 
disposed of at existing commercial disposal facilities. But wastes that 
exceed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's criteria for Class C, known 
as greater-than-class-C wastes, are potent enough that they cannot be 
disposed of at existing facilities. While GTCC wastes are not as 
dangerous as high-level radioactive waste and therefore are not 
considered the highest security priority, they are the most potent of 
low level waste and necessitate progressively more stringent disposal 
requirements.
  The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments of 1985, P.L. 99-
240, required the Department of Energy, DOE, to provide a facility for 
disposing of all GTCC radioactive waste, including GTCC sealed sources 
that are no longer utilized by their owners. GAO found that little to 
no work had been done to designate a permanent disposal site. Although 
DOE has said that the facility will be up and running by 2007, it seems 
unlikely as they have only just begun the necessary environmental 
impact statement process.
  In 1999, DOE created the Off-Site Source Recovery Project, OSRP, to 
recover unwanted GTCC sealed sources and temporarily house them at the 
Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory. According to GAO 
testimony before the Senate Energy Committee in September 2004, 
approximately 10,000 GTCC sealed sources from about 160 sites across 
the U.S. had been recovered to date. However, approximately 8,000 
sources still remained in

[[Page S4649]]

insecure facilities at the time of the hearing.
  The job is not done, but the National Nuclear Security Administration 
(NNSA), the division within DOE responsible for the U.S. Radiological 
Threat Reduction, USRTR, previously the OSRP, has made great strides. 
Since I first introduced S. 1045, the Low Level Radioactive Waste Act, 
in May 2003, the prioritization of off-site recovery of GTCC sources 
has heightened. DOE received a $10 million supplemental for the program 
in 2003 and the President's fiscal year 06 budget proposes funding the 
USRTR at $12.75 million, up 69 percent from the fiscal year 05 enacted 
level of $7.54 million.
  Earlier this month, NNSA called to let me know it intended to remove 
100 sources of cobalt-60, which is GTCC, from the University of Hawaii.
  The University had been trying to get DOE, the owners of the 
material, to dispose of the sources for years. The radioactive material 
was used in an irradiator and loaned to the University back in the 
1960s for agricultural research. I am grateful that NNSA stepped up its 
recovery of unneeded radiological sources and helped to relieve the 
burden of guarding potentially dangerous material from the University 
administration.
  The progress made by NNSA, while appreciated and laudable, is 
nonetheless a first step. Without the designation of a permanent 
disposal facility for GTCC waste, DOE will run out of temporary storage 
space. The Department already encountered problems finding a place to 
store strontium-90, cesium-137, and plutonium-239, all GTCC sources 
that have unique storage requirements. A permanent disposal facility 
that can accommodate all GTCC waste must be identified.
  The Safe Storage of Radiological Materials Act of 2005 would require 
DOE to report to Congress on the current situation and future plans for 
disposal alternatives for GTCC radioactive waste and the cost and 
schedule to complete an environmental impact statement and record of 
decision on a permanent disposal facility for GTCC radioactive wastes. 
My bill would also require DOE to provide Congress with a plan for the 
short-term recovery of GTCC radioactive waste until a permanent 
facility is available. This legislation parallels the recommendations 
of the April 2003 GAO report, and I believe enactment of this bill is 
critical to securing sealed sources of nuclear material.
  Twenty years is too long to wait for an agency to do its job. I urge 
my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 979

       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 ``Safe Storage of Radiological 
     Materials Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. DISPOSAL OF CERTAIN LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) according to the report of the National Commission on 
     Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, more than 2 dozen 
     terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, are pursuing chemical, 
     biological, radiological, and nuclear materials;
       (2) according to the report of the National Commission on 
     Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, the United States 
     is a prime target for weapons made with chemical, biological, 
     radiological, and nuclear materials;
       (3) the Department of Energy estimates that about 10,000 
     sealed sources of greater-than-Class C low-level radioactive 
     waste (as defined in section 61.55 of title 10, Code of 
     Federal Regulations) will become unwanted and will have to be 
     disposed of through the Department of Energy by 2010;
       (4) the Department of Energy--
       (A) does not have adequate resources or storage facilities 
     to recover and store all unwanted sources of greater-than-
     Class C low-level radioactive waste; and
       (B) has not identified a permanent disposal facility;
       (5) a report by the Government Accountability Office 
     entitled ``Nuclear Proliferation: DOE Action Needed to Ensure 
     Continued Recovery of Unwanted Sealed Radioactive Sources'' 
     states that ``[t]he small size and portability of the sealed 
     sources make them susceptible to misuse, improper disposal, 
     and theft. If these sealed sources fell into the hands of 
     terrorists, they could be used as simple and crude but 
     potentially dangerous radiological weapons, commonly called 
     dirty bombs.''; and
       (6) the Government Accountability Office report further 
     states that ``[c]ertain sealed sources are considered 
     particularly attractive for potential use in producing dirty 
     bombs because, among other things, they contain more 
     concentrated amounts of nuclear material known as `greater-
     than-Class-C material.' ''
       (b) Responsibility for Activities To Provide Storage 
     Facility.--The Secretary of Energy shall provide to Congress 
     official notification of the final designation of an entity 
     within the Department of Energy to have the responsibility of 
     completing activities needed to provide a facility for safely 
     disposing of all greater-than-Class C low-level radioactive 
     waste.
       (c) Reports and Plans.--
       (1) Report on permanent disposal facility.--
       (A) Plan regarding cost and schedule for completion of eis 
     and rod.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
     of this Act, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with 
     Congress, shall submit to Congress a report containing an 
     estimate of the cost and a proposed schedule to complete an 
     environmental impact statement and record of decision for a 
     permanent disposal for greater-than-Class C radioactive 
     waste.
       (B) Analysis of alternatives.--Before the Secretary of 
     Energy makes a final decision on the disposal alternative or 
     alternatives to be implemented, the Secretary of Energy 
     shall--
       (i) submit to Congress a report that describes all 
     alternatives under consideration, including all information 
     required in the comprehensive report making recommendations 
     for ensuring the safe disposal of all greater-than-Class C 
     low-level radioactive waste that was submitted by the 
     Secretary to Congress in February 1987; and
       (ii) await action by Congress.
       (2) Short-term plan for recovery and storage.--
       (A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit 
     to Congress a plan to ensure the continued recovery and 
     storage of greater-than-Class C low-level radioactive sealed 
     sources that pose a security threat until a permanent 
     disposal facility is available.
       (B) Contents.--The plan shall address estimated cost, 
     resource, and facility needs.
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