INCREASED CONTROLS FOR LICENSEES THAT POSSESS SOURCES 

CONTAINING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL QUANTITIES OF CONCERN 

The purpose of the increased controls (IC) for radioactive sources is to enhance control of

radioactive material in quantities greater than or equal to values described in Table 1, to reduce

the risk of unauthorized use of radioactive materials, through access controls to aid prevention,

and prompt detection, assessment, and response to mitigate potentially high consequences

that would be detrimental to public health and safety. These increased controls for radioactive

sources are established to delineate licensee responsibility to maintain control of licensed

material and secure it from unauthorized removal or access. The following increased controls

apply to licensees which, at any given time, possess radioactive sources greater than or equal

to the quantities of concern of radioactive material defined in Table 1.

IC 1. In order to ensure the safe handling, use, and control of licensed material in use and in

storage each licensee shall control access at all times to radioactive material quantities

of concern and devices containing such radioactive material (devices), and limit access

to such radioactive material and devices to only approved individuals who require

access to perform their duties.

a. The licensee shall allow only trustworthy and reliable individuals, approved in

writing by the licensee, to have unescorted access to radioactive material

quantities of concern and devices. The licensee shall approve for unescorted

access only those individuals with job duties that require access to such

radioactive material and devices. Personnel who require access to such

radioactive material and devices to perform a job duty, but who are not approved

by the licensee for unescorted access, must be escorted by an approved

individual.

b. For individuals employed by the licensee for three years or less, and for nonlicensee personnel, such as physicians, physicists, house-keeping personnel,

and security personnel under contract, trustworthiness and reliability shall be

determined, at a minimum, by verifying employment history, education, and

personal references. The licensee shall also, to the extent possible, obtain

independent information to corroborate that provided by the employee (i.e.,

seeking references not supplied by the individual). For individuals employed by

the licensee for longer than three years, trustworthiness and reliability shall be

determined, at a minimum, by a review of the employees’ employment history

with the licensee.

c. Service providers shall be escorted unless determined to be trustworthy and

reliable by an NRC-required background investigation as an employee of a

manufacturing and distribution (M&D) licensee. Written verification attesting to

or certifying the person’s trustworthiness and reliability shall be obtained from the

manufacturing and distribution licensee providing the service.

d. The licensee shall document the basis for concluding that there is reasonable

assurance that an individual granted unescorted access is trustworthy and

reliable, and does not constitute an unreasonable risk for unauthorized use of

radioactive material quantities of concern. The licensee shall maintain a list of

Attachment B
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persons approved for unescorted access to such radioactive material and

devices by the licensee.

IC 2. In order to ensure the safe handling, use, and control of licensed material in use and in

storage, each licensee shall have a documented program to monitor and immediately

detect, assess, and respond to unauthorized access to radioactive material quantities of

concern and devices. Enhanced monitoring shall be provided during periods of source

delivery or shipment, where the delivery or shipment exceeds 100 times the Table 1

values.

a. The licensee shall respond immediately to any actual or attempted theft,

sabotage, or diversion of such radioactive material or of the devices. The

response shall include requesting assistance from a Local Law Enforcement

Agency (LLEA).

b. The licensee shall have a pre-arranged plan with LLEA for assistance in

response to an actual or attempted theft, sabotage, or diversion of such

radioactive material or of the devices which is consistent in scope and timing with

a realistic potential vulnerability of the sources containing such radioactive

material. The pre-arranged plan shall be updated when changes to the facility

design or operation affect the potential vulnerability of the sources. Prearranged LLEA coordination is not required for temporary job sites.

c. The licensee shall have a dependable means to transmit information between,

and among, the various components used to detect and identify an unauthorized

intrusion, to inform the assessor, and to summon the appropriate responder.

d. After initiating appropriate response to any actual or attempted theft, sabotage,

or diversion of radioactive material or of the devices, the licensee shall, as

promptly as possible, notify NRC Operations Center at (301) 816-5100.

e. The licensee shall maintain documentation describing each instance of

unauthorized access and any necessary corrective actions to prevent future

instances of unauthorized access.

IC 3. a. In order to ensure the safe handling, use, and control of licensed material in

transportation for domestic highway and rail shipments by a carrier other than

the licensee, for quantities that equal or exceed those in Table 1 but are less

than 100 times Table 1 quantities, per consignment, the licensee shall:

1. Use carriers which:

A. Use package tracking systems, 

B. Implement methods to assure trustworthiness and reliability of

drivers,

C. Maintain constant control and/or surveillance during transit, and

D. Have the capability for immediate communication to summon

appropriate response or assistance.
1

Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

 Washington, DC 20555

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The licensee shall verify and document that the carrier employs the

measures listed above.

2. Contact the recipient to coordinate the expected arrival time of the

shipment;

3. Confirm receipt of the shipment; and

4. Initiate an investigation to determine the location of the licensed material

if the shipment does not arrive on or about the expected arrival time. 

When, through the course of the investigation, it is determined the

shipment has become lost, stolen, or missing, the licensee shall

immediately notify the NRC Operations Center at (301) 816-5100. If,

after 24 hours of investigating, the location of the material still cannot be

determined, the radioactive material shall be deemed missing and the

licensee shall immediately notify the NRC Operations Center at (301)

816-5100.

b. For domestic highway and rail shipments, prior to shipping licensed radioactive

material that exceeds 100 times the quantities in Table 1 per consignment, the

licensee shall:

1. Notify the NRC1

, in writing, at least 90 days prior to the anticipated date of

shipment. The NRC will issue the Order to implement the Additional

Security Measures (ASMs) for the transportation of Radioactive Material

Quantities of Concern (RAM QC). The licensee shall not ship this

material until the ASMs for the transportation of RAM QC are

implemented or the licensee is notified otherwise, in writing, by NRC.

2. Once the licensee has implemented the ASMs for the transportation of

RAM QC, the notification requirements of 3.b.1 shall not apply to future

shipments of licensed radioactive material that exceeds 100 times the

Table 1 quantities. The licensee shall implement the ASMs for the

transportation of RAM QC.

c. If a licensee employs an M&D licensee to take possession at the licensee’s

location of the licensed radioactive material and ship it under its M&D license,

the requirements of 3.a. and 3.b above shall not apply.

d. If the licensee is to receive radioactive material greater than or equal to the

Table 1 quantities, per consignment, the licensee shall coordinate with the

originator to:

1. Establish an expected time of delivery; and
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2. Confirm receipt of transferred radioactive material. If the material is not

received at the expected time of delivery, notify the originator and assist

in any investigation.

IC 4. In order to ensure the safe handling, use, and control of licensed material in use and in

storage each licensee that possesses mobile or portable devices containing radioactive

material in quantities greater than or equal to Table 1 values, shall:

a. For portable devices, have two independent physical controls that form tangible

barriers to secure the material from unauthorized removal when the device is not

under direct control and constant surveillance by the licensee.

b. For mobile devices:

1. that are only moved outside of the facility (e.g., on a trailer), have two

independent physical controls that form tangible barriers to secure the

material from unauthorized removal when the device is not under direct

control and constant surveillance by the licensee.

2. that are only moved inside a facility, have a physical control that forms a

tangible barrier to secure the material from unauthorized movement or

removal when the device is not under direct control and constant

surveillance by the licensee.

c. For devices in or on a vehicle or trailer, licensees shall also utilize a method to

disable the vehicle or trailer when not under direct control and constant

surveillance by the licensee

IC 5. The licensee shall retain documentation required by these increased controls for three

years after they are no longer effective:

a. The licensee shall retain documentation regarding the trustworthiness and

reliability of individual employees for three years after the individual’s

employment ends. 

b. Each time the licensee revises the list of approved persons required by 1.d., or

the documented program required by 2, the licensee shall retain the previous

documentation for three years after the revision.

c. The licensee shall retain documentation on each radioactive material carrier for

three years after the licensee discontinues use of that particular carrier.

d. The licensee shall retain documentation on shipment coordination, notifications,

and investigations for three years after the shipment or investigation is

completed.

e. After the license is terminated or amended to reduce possession limits below the

quantities of concern, the licensee shall retain all documentation required by

these increased controls for three years.
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IC 6. Detailed information generated by the licensee that describes the physical protection of

radioactive material quantities of concern, is sensitive information and shall be protected

from unauthorized disclosure.

a. The licensee shall control access to its physical protection information to those

persons who have an established need to know the information, and are

considered to be trustworthy and reliable.

b. The licensee shall develop, maintain and implement policies and procedures for

controlling access to, and for proper handling and protection against

unauthorized disclosure of, its physical protection information for radioactive

material covered by these requirements. The policies and procedures shall

include the following:

1. General performance requirement that each person who produces,

receives, or acquires the licensee’s sensitive information, protect the

information from unauthorized disclosure,

2. Protection of sensitive information during use, storage, and transit,

3. Preparation, identification or marking, and transmission,

4. Access controls,

5. Destruction of documents,

6. Use of automatic data processing systems, and

7. Removal from the licensee’s sensitive information category.