In the Senate of the United States, 

December 23, 2009. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 730) entitled ‘‘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.’’, do pass with the 

following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

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 of 

9 the United States. In the wake of an attack, attribu-
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1 tion of responsibility would be of utmost importance. 

2 Because of the destructive power of a nuclear weapon, 

3 there could be little forensic evidence except the radio4 active material in the weapon itself. 

5 (2) Through advanced nuclear forensics, using 

6 both existing techniques and those under development, 

7 it may be possible to identify the source and pathway 

8 of a weapon or material after it is interdicted or deto9 nated. Though identifying intercepted smuggled mate10 rial is now possible in some cases, pre-detonation 

11 forensics is a relatively undeveloped field. The post12 detonation nuclear forensics field is also immature, 

13 and the challenges are compounded by the pressures 

14 and time constraints of performing forensics after a 

15 nuclear or radiological attack. 

16 (3) A robust and well-known capability to iden17 tify the source of nuclear or radiological material in18 tended for or used in an act of terror could also deter 

19 prospective proliferators. Furthermore, the threat of 

20 effective attribution could compel improved security 

21 at material storage facilities, preventing the unwit22 ting transfer of nuclear or radiological materials. 

23 (4)(A) In order to identify special nuclear mate24 rial and other radioactive materials confidently, it is 

25 necessary to have a robust capability to acquire sam-
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1 ples in a timely manner, analyze and characterize 

2 samples, and compare samples against known signa3 tures of nuclear and radiological material. 

4 (B) Many of the radioisotopes produced in the 

5 detonation of a nuclear device have short half-lives, so 

6 the timely acquisition of samples is of the utmost im7 portance. Over the past several decades, the ability of 

8 the United States to gather atmospheric samples— 

9 often the preferred method of sample acquisition—has 

10 diminished. This ability must be restored and modern 

11 techniques that could complement or replace existing 

12 techniques should be pursued. 

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

14 a relatively undeveloped field. The radiation associ15 ated with a nuclear or radiological device may affect 

16 traditional forensics techniques in unknown ways. In 

17 a post-detonation scenario, radiochemistry may pro18 vide the most useful tools for analysis and character19 ization of samples. The number of radiochemistry 

20 programs and radiochemists in United States Na21 tional Laboratories and universities has dramatically 

22 declined over the past several decades. The narrowing 

23 pipeline of qualified people into this critical field is 

24 a serious impediment to maintaining a robust and 

25 credible nuclear forensics program. 
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1 (5) Once samples have been acquired and charac2 terized, it is necessary to compare the results against 

3 samples of known material from reactors, weapons, 

4 and enrichment facilities, and from medical, aca5 demic, commercial, and other facilities containing 

6 such materials, throughout the world. Some of these 

7 samples are available to the International Atomic 

8 Energy Agency through safeguards agreements, and 

9 some countries maintain internal sample databases. 

10 Access to samples in many countries is limited by na11 tional security concerns. 

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

13 necessary to have the capability to positively identify 

14 the source of nuclear or radiological material, and po15 tential traffickers in nuclear or radiological material 

16 must be aware of that capability. International co17 operation may be essential to catalogue all existing 

18 sources of nuclear or radiological material. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL AGREE20 MENTS FOR FORENSICS COOPERATION. 

21 It is the sense of the Congress that the President 

22 should— 

23 (1) pursue bilateral and multilateral inter24 national agreements to establish, or seek to establish 

25 under the auspices of existing bilateral or multilateral 
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1 agreements, an international framework for deter2 mining the source of any confiscated nuclear or radi3 ological material or weapon, as well as the source of 

4 any detonated weapon and the nuclear or radiological 

5 material used in such a weapon; 

6 (2) develop protocols for the data exchange and 

7 dissemination of sensitive information relating to nu8 clear or radiological materials and samples of con9 trolled nuclear or radiological materials, to the extent 

10 required by the agreements entered into under para11 graph (1); and 

12 (3) develop expedited protocols for the data ex13 change and dissemination of sensitive information 

14 needed to publicly identify the source of a nuclear det15 onation. 

16 SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF DOMESTIC NUCLEAR DETEC17 TION OFFICE. 

18 (a) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 1902 of 

19 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as redesignated by 

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

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

23 after the semicolon; 

24 (B) by redesignating paragraph (10) as 

25 paragraph (14); and 
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1 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(10) lead the development and implementation 

4 of the national strategic five-year plan for improving 

5 the nuclear forensic and attribution capabilities of the 

6 United States required under section 1036 of the Na7 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

8 2010; 

9 ‘‘(11) establish, within the Domestic Nuclear De10 tection Office, the National Technical Nuclear 

11 Forensics Center to provide centralized stewardship, 

12 planning, assessment, gap analysis, exercises, im13 provement, and integration for all Federal nuclear 

14 forensics and attribution activities— 

15 ‘‘(A) to ensure an enduring national tech16 nical nuclear forensics capability to strengthen 

17 the collective response of the United States to nu18 clear terrorism or other nuclear attacks; and 

19 ‘‘(B) to coordinate and implement the na20 tional strategic five-year plan referred to in 

21 paragraph (10); 

22 ‘‘(12) establish a National Nuclear Forensics Ex23 pertise Development Program, which— 

24 ‘‘(A) is devoted to developing and maintain25 ing a vibrant and enduring academic pathway 
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1 from undergraduate to post-doctorate study in 

2 nuclear and geochemical science specialties di3 rectly relevant to technical nuclear forensics, in4 cluding radiochemistry, geochemistry, nuclear 

5 physics, nuclear engineering, materials science, 

6 and analytical chemistry; 

7 ‘‘(B) shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) make available for undergraduate 

9 study student scholarships, with a duration 

10 of up to 4 years per student, which shall in11 clude, if possible, at least 1 summer intern12 ship at a national laboratory or appro13 priate Federal agency in the field of tech14 nical nuclear forensics during the course of 

15 the student’s undergraduate career; 

16 ‘‘(ii) make available for doctoral study 

17 student fellowships, with a duration of up 

18 to 5 years per student, which shall— 

19 ‘‘(I) include, if possible, at least 2 

20 summer internships at a national lab21 oratory or appropriate Federal agency 

22 in the field of technical nuclear 

23 forensics during the course of the stu24 dent’s graduate career; and 
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1 ‘‘(II) require each recipient to 

2 commit to serve for 2 years in a post3 doctoral position in a technical nuclear 

4 forensics-related specialty at a national 

5 laboratory or appropriate Federal 

6 agency after graduation; 

7 ‘‘(iii) make available to faculty 

8 awards, with a duration of 3 to 5 years 

9 each, to ensure faculty and their graduate 

10 students have a sustained funding stream; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(iv) place a particular emphasis on 

13 reinvigorating technical nuclear forensics 

14 programs while encouraging the participa15 tion of undergraduate students, graduate 

16 students, and university faculty from his17 torically Black colleges and universities, 

18 Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal Col19 leges and Universities, Asian American and 

20 Native American Pacific Islander-serving 

21 institutions, Alaska Native-serving institu22 tions, and Hawaiian Native-serving institu23 tions; and 

24 ‘‘(C) shall— 
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1 ‘‘(i) provide for the selection of indi2 viduals to receive scholarships or fellowships 

3 under this section through a competitive 

4 process primarily on the basis of academic 

5 merit and the nuclear forensics and attribu6 tion needs of the United States Government; 

7 ‘‘(ii) provide for the setting aside of up 

8 to 10 percent of the scholarships or fellow9 ships awarded under this section for indi10 viduals who are Federal employees to en11 hance the education of such employees in 

12 areas of critical nuclear forensics and attri13 bution needs of the United States Govern14 ment, for doctoral education under the 

15 scholarship on a full-time or part-time 

16 basis; 

17 ‘‘(iii) provide that the Secretary may 

18 enter into a contractual agreement with an 

19 institution of higher education under which 

20 the amounts provided for a scholarship 

21 under this section for tuition, fees, and 

22 other authorized expenses are paid directly 

23 to the institution with respect to which such 

24 scholarship is awarded; 
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1 ‘‘(iv) require scholarship recipients to 

2 maintain satisfactory academic progress; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(v) require that— 

5 ‘‘(I) a scholarship recipient who 

6 fails to maintain a high level of aca7 demic standing, as defined by the Sec8 retary, who is dismissed for discipli9 nary reasons from the educational in10 stitution such recipient is attending, or 

11 who voluntarily terminates academic 

12 training before graduation from the 

13 educational program for which the 

14 scholarship was awarded shall be liable 

15 to the United States for repayment 

16 within 1 year after the date of such de17 fault of all scholarship funds paid to 

18 such recipient and to the institution of 

19 higher education on the behalf of such 

20 recipient, provided that the repayment 

21 period may be extended by the Sec22 retary if the Secretary determines it 

23 necessary, as established by regulation; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(II) a scholarship recipient who, 

2 for any reason except death or dis3 ability, fails to begin or complete the 

4 post-doctoral service requirements in a 

5 technical nuclear forensics-related spe6 cialty at a national laboratory or ap7 propriate Federal agency after comple8 tion of academic training shall be lia9 ble to the United States for an amount 

10 equal to— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the total amount of the 

12 scholarship received by such re13 cipient under this section; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) the interest on such 

15 amounts which would be payable 

16 if at the time the scholarship was 

17 received such scholarship was a 

18 loan bearing interest at the max19 imum legally prevailing rate; 

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

21 the activities carried out under paragraphs (10), (11), 

22 and (12); and’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub24 section: 

25 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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1 ‘‘(1) ALASKA NATIVE-SERVING INSTITUTION.— 

2 The term ‘Alaska Native-serving institution’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 317 of the Higher 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d). 

5 ‘‘(2) ASIAN AMERICAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN

6 PACIFIC ISLANDER-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The term 

7 ‘Asian American and Native American Pacific Is8 lander-serving institution’ has the meaning given the 

9 term in section 320 of the Higher Education Act of 

10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059g). 

11 ‘‘(3) HAWAIIAN NATIVE-SERVING INSTITUTION.— 

12 The term ‘Hawaiian native-serving institution’ has 

13 the meaning given the term in section 317 of the 

14 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d). 

15 ‘‘(4) HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The term 

16 ‘Hispanic-serving institution’ has the meaning given 

17 that term in section 502 of the Higher Education Act 

18 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a). 

19 ‘‘(5) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNIVER20 SITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or univer21 sity’ has the meaning given the term ‘part B institu22 tion’ in section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act 

23 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 

24 ‘‘(6) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

25 term ‘Tribal College or University’ has the meaning 
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1 given that term in section 316(b) of the Higher Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)).’’. 

3 (b) JOINT INTERAGENCY ANNUAL REPORTING RE4 QUIREMENT TO CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1907(a)(1) of the 

6 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 596a(a)(1)) 

7 is amended— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘; 

9 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

10 (B) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 

11 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

13 subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(C) the Director of the Domestic Nuclear 

15 Detection Office and each of the relevant depart16 ments that are partners in the National Tech17 nical Forensics Center— 

18 ‘‘(i) include, as part of the assessments, 

19 evaluations, and reviews required under 

20 this paragraph, each office’s or department’s 

21 activities and investments in support of nu22 clear forensics and attribution activities 

23 and specific goals and objectives accom24 plished during the previous year pursuant 

25 to the national strategic five-year plan for 
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1 improving the nuclear forensic and attribu2 tion capabilities of the United States re3 quired under section 1036 of the National 

4 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

5 2010; 

6 ‘‘(ii) attaches, as an appendix to the 

7 Joint Interagency Annual Review, the most 

8 current version of such strategy and plan; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(iii) includes a description of new or 

11 amended bilateral and multilateral agree12 ments and efforts in support of nuclear 

13 forensics and attribution activities accom14 plished during the previous year.’’. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H.R. 730 

AMENDMENT