IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2631 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 19, 2008 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To strengthen efforts in the Department of Homeland Security to develop nuclear forensics capabilities to permit 

attribution of the source of nuclear material, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Forensics and 

3 Attribution Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The threat of a nuclear terrorist attack on 

7 American interests, both domestic and abroad, is one 

8 of the most serious threats to the national security 

9 of the United States. In the wake of an attack, attri10 bution of responsibility would be of utmost impor11 tance. Because of the destructive power of the weap12 on, there could be little forensic evidence except the 

13 radioactive material in the bomb itself. 

14 (2) Through advanced nuclear forensics, using 

15 both existing techniques and those under develop16 ment, it may be possible to identify the source and 

17 pathway of a weapon or material after it is inter18 dicted or detonated. Though identifying intercepted 

19 smuggled material is now possible in some cases, 

20 pre-detonation forensics is a relatively undeveloped 

21 field. The post-detonation nuclear forensics field is 

22 also immature, and the challenges are compounded 

23 by the pressures and time constraints of performing 

24 forensics after a nuclear or radiological attack. 

25 (3) A robust and well-known capability to iden26 tify the source of nuclear or radiological material inVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:09 Jun 20, 2008 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2631.RFS H2631

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1 tended for or used in an act of terror could also 

2 deter prospective proliferators. Furthermore, the 

3 threat of effective attribution could compel improved 

4 security at material storage facilities, preventing the 

5 unwitting transfer of nuclear or radiological mate6 rials. 

7 (4)(A) In order to identify special nuclear mate8 rial and other radioactive materials confidently, it is 

9 necessary to have a robust capability to acquire sam10 ples in a timely manner, analyze and characterize 

11 samples, and compare samples against known signa12 tures of nuclear and radiological material. 

13 (B) Many of the radioisotopes produced in the 

14 detonation of a nuclear device have short half-lives, 

15 so the timely acquisition of samples is of the utmost 

16 importance. Over the past several decades, the abil17 ity of the United States to gather atmospheric sam18 ples—often the preferred method of sample acquisi19 tion has diminished. This ability must be restored 

20 and modern techniques that could complement or re21 place existing techniques should be pursued. 

22 (C) The discipline of pre-detonation forensics is 

23 a relatively undeveloped field. The radiation associ24 ated with a nuclear or radiological device may affect 

25 traditional forensics techniques in unknown ways. In 


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1 a post-detonation scenario, radiochemistry may pro2 vide the most useful tools for analysis and character3 ization of samples. The number of radiochemistry 

4 programs and radiochemists in United States Na5 tional Laboratories and universities has dramatically 

6 declined over the past several decades. The nar7 rowing pipeline of qualified people into this critical 

8 field is a serious impediment to maintaining a robust 

9 and credible nuclear forensics program. 

10 (5) Once samples have been acquired and char11 acterized, it is necessary to compare the results 

12 against samples of known material from reactors, 

13 weapons, and enrichment facilities, and from med14 ical, academic, commercial, and other facilities con15 taining such materials, throughout the world. Some 

16 of these samples are available to the International 

17 Atomic Energy Agency through safeguards agree18 ments, and some countries maintain internal sample 

19 databases. Access to samples in many countries is 

20 limited by national security concerns. 

21 (6) In order to create a sufficient deterrent, it 

22 is necessary to have the capability to positively iden23 tify the source of nuclear or radiological material, 

24 and potential traffickers in nuclear or radiological 

25 material must be aware of that capability. InterVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:09 Jun 20, 2008 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2631.RFS H2631

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1 national cooperation may be essential to catalogue 

2 all existing sources of nuclear or radiological mate3 rial. 

4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL AGREE5 MENTS FOR FORENSICS COOPERATION. 

6 It is the sense of the Congress that the President 

7 should— 

8 (1) pursue bilateral and multilateral inter9 national agreements to establish, or seek to establish 

10 under the auspices of existing bilateral or multilat11 eral agreements, an international framework for de12 termining the source of any confiscated nuclear or 

13 radiological material or weapon, as well as the 

14 source of any detonated weapon and the nuclear or 

15 radiological material used in such a weapon; 

16 (2) develop protocols for the data exchange and 

17 dissemination of sensitive information relating to nu18 clear or radiological materials and samples of con19 trolled nuclear or radiological materials, to the ex20 tent required by the agreements entered into under 

21 paragraph (1); and 

22 (3) develop expedited protocols for the data ex23 change and dissemination of sensitive information 

24 needed to publicly identify the source of a nuclear 

25 detonation. 


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1 SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF DOMESTIC NUCLEAR DETEC2 TION OFFICE. 

3 (a) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 1902 

4 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as redesignated 

5 by Public Law 110–53; 6 U.S.C. 592) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

8 after the semicolon; 

9 (B) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 

10 paragraph (14); and 

11 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(10) develop and implement, with the approval 

14 of the Secretary and in coordination with the heads 

15 of appropriate departments and agencies, methods 

16 and capabilities to support the attribution of nuclear 

17 or radiological material to its source when such ma18 terial is intercepted by the United States, foreign 

19 governments, or international bodies or is dispersed 

20 in the course of a terrorist attack or other nuclear 

21 or radiological explosion; 

22 ‘‘(11) establish, within the Domestic Nuclear 

23 Detection Office, the National Technical Nuclear 

24 Forensics Center to provide centralized stewardship, 

25 planning, assessment, gap analysis, exercises, im26 provement, and integration for all Federal nuclear 


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1 forensics activities to ensure an enduring national 

2 technical nuclear forensics capability to strengthen 

3 the collective response of the United States to nu4 clear terrorism or other nuclear attacks; 

5 ‘‘(12) establish a National Nuclear Forensics 

6 Expertise Development Program which— 

7 ‘‘(A) is devoted to developing and main8 taining a vibrant and enduring academic path9 way from undergraduate to post-doctorate 

10 study in nuclear and geochemical science spe11 cialties directly relevant to technical nuclear 

12 forensics, including radiochemistry, geo13 chemistry, nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, 

14 materials science, and analytical chemistry; and 

15 ‘‘(B) shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) make available for undergraduate 

17 study student scholarships, with a duration 

18 of up to four years per student, which shall 

19 include, whenever possible, at least one 

20 summer internship at a national laboratory 

21 or appropriate Federal agency in the field 

22 of technical nuclear forensics during the 

23 course of the student’s undergraduate ca24 reer; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) make available for graduate 

2 study student fellowships, with a duration 

3 of up to five years per student, which— 

4 ‘‘(I) shall include, whenever pos5 sible, at least two summer internships 

6 at a national laboratory or appro7 priate Federal agency in the field of 

8 technical nuclear forensics during the 

9 course of the student’s graduate ca10 reer; and 

11 ‘‘(II) shall require each recipient 

12 to commit to serve for two years in a 

13 post-doctoral position in a technical 

14 nuclear forensics-related specialty at a 

15 national laboratory or appropriate 

16 Federal agency after graduation; 

17 ‘‘(iii) make available to faculty 

18 awards, with a duration of three to five 

19 years each, to ensure faculty and their 

20 graduate students a sustained funding 

21 stream; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) place a particular emphasis on 

23 reinvigorating technical nuclear forensics 

24 programs, while encouraging the participa25 tion of undergraduate students, graduate 


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1 students, and university faculty from his2 torically Black colleges and universities, 

3 Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribal 

4 Colleges and Universities; 

5 ‘‘(13) provide an annual report to Congress on 

6 the activities carried out under paragraphs (10), 

7 (11), and (12); and’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 section: 

10 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI12 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 

13 university’ has the meaning given the term ‘part B 

14 institution’ in section 322(2) of the Higher Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 

16 ‘‘(2) HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

17 term ‘Hispanic-serving institution’ has the meaning 

18 given that term in section 502 of the Higher Edu19 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a). 

20 ‘‘(3) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

21 term ‘Tribal College or University’ has the meaning 

22 given that term in section 316(b) of the Higher 

23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)).’’. 

24 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated the sum of $30,000,000 for 


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1 each of the fiscal years 2009, 2010, and 2011 to carry 

2 out paragraphs (10) through (13) of section 1902(a) of 

3 the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by sub4 section (a) of this section. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 18, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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