NRC DIRECTS STAFF TO ENHANCE SECURITY OF CESIUM CHLORIDE 

RADIATION SOURCES WHILE ALTERNATIVES ARE EXPLORED 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has directed the agency staff to continue enhancing 

the security of cesium chloride radiation sources, while encouraging research and further 

technological developments for alternative chemical forms of cesium-137. 

 The Commission agreed with the staff’s position in a paper presented last November that 

near-term replacement of cesium chloride sources in existing blood, research, and calibration 

irradiators is not practicable and would be harmful to the delivery of medical care, research and 

emergency response capabilities. 

 “Banning or phasing-out cesium chloride radiation sources at this time – before a 

replacement form or other technology is available – would be counterproductive, because society 

would lose the many benefits these sources provide in medicine, industry and research,” NRC 

Chairman Dale E. Klein said. 

 The Commission noted that security controls already implemented over the past several 

years have significantly improved the security of these sources. However, it directed the staff to 

continue exploring new ways to improve their security further. Those efforts are to include 

working with federal and state agencies to define criteria for a “dispersible source of concern” 

that could then be used to guide research efforts to develop an alternative form of cesium. 

 The staff was also directed to develop a Commission policy statement detailing the 

Commission’s emphasis on security of cesium chloride sources. 

 These radiation sources fall into the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Categories 1 

and 2, which the NRC considers most sensitive from a security standpoint. These sources are 

widely used in irradiators to sterilize human blood, in bio-medical and industrial research, and 

for calibration of radiation instrumentation and dosimetry. 

 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 09-074 April 15, 2009
Concern over the security of these sources has led some people to advocate banning 

cesium chloride altogether. In developing its recommendations for the Commission, the staff 

considered the February 2008 report of the National Academies, “Radiation Source Use and 

Replacement,” which recommended action to eliminate or replace these sources, but also 

advocated caution in replacing them because of the societal benefits they provide. It also 

consulted the NRC’s Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes, which cited cesium 

chloride’s advantages over other available technologies and recommended a continued emphasis 

on improving their security as an alternative to their replacement. 

 The NRC staff also held a two-day public forum in September 2008 that discussed 

alternative forms of cesium, alternative technologies, phase-out and transportation issues, 

additional enhanced security, and potential future requirements for use of the material. More than 

200 people attended the forum. Written feedback following the forum overwhelmingly favored 

not rushing to replace cesium chloride sources because of the benefits they provide to the public. 

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