I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5624 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to secure domestic sources 

of radiological materials that could be used to make a radiological dispersion device against access by terrorists, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2008 

Ms. CLARKE (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. 

HARMAN, and Mrs. LOWEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 

the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to secure 

domestic sources of radiological materials that could be 

used to make a radiological dispersion device against 

access by terrorists, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Radiological Materials 

5 Security Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDING AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that radiological 

3 materials used in medical, industrial, academic, and other 

4 facilities must be secured to prevent theft for possible use 

5 in a radiological dispersion device by terrorists. 

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to sup7 port and extend the current cooperative efforts of the De8 partment of Homeland Security, the Nuclear Regulatory 

9 Commission, and the Department of Energy to secure ra10 diological source materials against access by terrorists, by 

11 establishing, in statute, requirements and authority for a 

12 security system for domestic sources of radiological mate13 rials that could be used to make a radiological dispersion 

14 device, implemented by the Department of Homeland Se15 curity, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, State and 

16 local law enforcement and public health authorities, and 

17 facilities possessing radiological materials with the support 

18 of the Department of Energy. 

19 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF HOME20 LAND SECURITY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XIX of the Homeland Secu22 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 592 et seq.) is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 1908. RADIOLOGICAL MATERIALS SECURITY. 

25 ‘‘(a) TERRORISM RISK ASSESSMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of the Radiological Ma3 terials Security Act, the Secretary shall enhance do4 mestic preparedness for and collective response to 

5 terrorism by conducting a risk assessment regarding 

6 the threat, vulnerability, and consequences of theft 

7 or other procurement of radiological materials that 

8 could be used by a terrorist in a radiological disper9 sion device, including any specific threat information 

10 pertinent to the use of radiological materials in a 

11 possible terrorist attack using a radiological disper12 sion device. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the ter14 rorism risk assessment the Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Energy 

16 and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; 

17 ‘‘(B) consider relevant studies previously 

18 prepared by other Federal agencies, or other 

19 reputable sources; 

20 ‘‘(C) focus on those radiological materials 

21 that constitute the greatest risk, and designate 

22 those materials as high-risk radiological mate23 rials for purposes of this section; 

24 ‘‘(D) consider the potential radiological 

25 dispersion device value of different radiological 


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1 materials including availability, dispersability, 

2 and ease of handling of such materials; 

3 ‘‘(E) consider the vulnerability for theft or 

4 other procurement that different facilities rep5 resent; and 

6 ‘‘(F) consider the consequences of a suc7 cessful radiological dispersion device attack, in8 cluding risk of death or injury and economic 

9 losses. 

10 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the ter11 rorism risk assessment, the Secretary shall consult 

12 with the intelligence community, the Secretary of 

13 Energy and the Field Intelligence Elements of the 

14 National Laboratories, and the Nuclear Regulatory 

15 Commission, the Secretary of Defense, and other ap16 propriate experts to integrate and analyze informa17 tion needed to develop the risk assessment. 

18 ‘‘(4) DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS.—The Sec19 retary shall disseminate the findings of the risk as20 sessment and any specific risk information developed 

21 in the assessment to all participants in the radio22 logical sources security system described in the Ra23 diological Materials Security Act including the Nu24 clear Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of En25 ergy, State and local agencies, and the facilities conVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:12 Mar 14, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5624.IH H5624

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1 taining radiological source material and regulated by 

2 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

3 ‘‘(5) CLASSIFICATION.—The Secretary— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall develop a classification system 

5 for information regarding radiological materials 

6 and shall classify the terrorism risk assessment 

7 at the appropriate level under such system; and 

8 ‘‘(B) shall share the terrorism risk assess9 ment with all participants with appropriate 

10 clearances. The Secretary shall also make avail11 able an unclassified version to all participants 

12 in the radiological sources security system de13 scribed in the Radiological Materials Security 

14 Act. 

15 ‘‘(b) TERRORISM RISK SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

17 a terrorism risk self-assessment tool for facilities to 

18 ascertain the risk posed to a facility due to its pos19 session, transport, sale, or use of material that is 

20 designated in the terrorism risk assessment under 

21 subsection (a) as a high-risk radiological material. 

22 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION AND USE.—The Secretary 

23 shall provide the terrorism risk self-assessment tool 

24 to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which shall 

25 provide it to facilities included in the radiological 


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1 sources security system described in the Radiological 

2 Materials Security Act. 

3 ‘‘(c) SECURITY PRACTICES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue 

5 recommended practices for securing high-risk radio6 logical materials based on best practices utilized in 

7 securing radioactive sources in the United States 

8 and abroad. 

9 ‘‘(2) RISK TIERS.—The recommended security 

10 practices shall be tiered based on— 

11 ‘‘(A) the type of radiological material se12 cured; 

13 ‘‘(B) the quantity of radiological material 

14 secured; 

15 ‘‘(C) the use of and ease of access to the 

16 radiological material at the facility; 

17 ‘‘(D) the type of facility; and 

18 ‘‘(E) the risk that the radiological material 

19 secured poses if used in an radiological disper20 sion device. 

21 ‘‘(3) INCLUDED PRACTICES.—The rec22 ommended security practices shall include practices 

23 for— 

24 ‘‘(A) facility access; 


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1 ‘‘(B) physical security of radiological mate2 rial sources; 

3 ‘‘(C) use of less dangerous sources of radi4 ological material; and 

5 ‘‘(D) licensing and tracking procedures for 

6 radiological materials. 

7 ‘‘(d) SECURITY UPGRADE FUNDING.—The Secretary, 

8 subject to the availability of appropriations, shall make 

9 available infrastructure protection grants for domestic 

10 preparedness and collective response to terrorism to own11 ers and operators of facilities for which the Nuclear Regu12 latory Commission or an Agreement State has approved 

13 a facility security plan under section 4(f) of the Radio14 logical Materials Security Act to help cover the cost of the 

15 site security plan development and implementation. 

16 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) AGREEMENT STATE.—The term ‘Agree18 ment State’ means a State that has signed an agree19 ment with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission pur20 suant to section 274b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 

21 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2021(b)). 

22 ‘‘(2) HIGH RISK RADIOLOGICAL MATERIAL.— 

23 The term ‘high-risk radiological material’ means ra24 diological material that is designated by the Sec25 retary under subsection (a)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING FACILITY.—The term ‘par2 ticipating facility’ means a private or publicly owned 

3 facility that contains radiological material and is li4 censed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or an 

5 Agreement State. 

6 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

7 carry out this section there is authorized to be appro8 priated to the Secretary $20,000,000, of which 

9 $10,000,000 shall be for fiscal year 2009 for grants under 

10 subsection (e).’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

12 in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the 

13 end of the items relating to title XIX the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1908. Radiological materials security.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

15 COMMISSION. 

16 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than two years after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act the Nuclear Regulatory 

18 Commission shall update, and as necessary promulgate, 

19 and enforce regulations for security of radiological mate20 rials against the threat of terrorism at facilities containing 

21 radiological materials, and maintain and update a nuclear 

22 materials events database. Such regulations shall include 

23 the security practices developed by the Secretary of Home24 land Security pursuant to section 1908 of the Homeland 

25 Security Act of 2002, as added by section 3 of this Act. 


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1 The regulations shall be tiered so that required security 

2 practices of facilities are commensurate with the risk that 

3 the materials pose. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

4 shall determine which risk tier a facility is placed in with 

5 the aid of the risk self-assessment tool described in section 

6 1908(b) of such Act and the recommended tiers described 

7 in paragraph (2) of that subsection. 

8 (b) SITE INSPECTIONS.—The Nuclear Regulatory 

9 Commission, or an Agreement State, shall conduct inspec10 tions of facilities covered under the regulations promul11 gated under subsection (a), the frequency and thorough12 ness of which shall be determined by the Nuclear Regu13 latory Commission commensurate with the facility’s risk 

14 tier. 

15 (c) PENALTIES.—The regulations promulgated under 

16 subsection (a) shall include appropriate administrative, 

17 civil, and criminal penalties, including revocation of the 

18 facility’s license issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Com19 mission or an Agreement State. 

20 (d) NUCLEAR MATERIALS EVENTS DATABASE.—The 

21 Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall maintain and up22 date a database to track regulated radiological materials 

23 and orphaned, lost, or stolen radiological materials, and 

24 require that Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensees and 

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1 latory Commission the amounts of such radiological mate2 rial every 6 months, and promptly report orphaned, lost, 

3 or stolen sources. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

4 shall grant access to the Nuclear Materials Events Data5 base to the Secretary. 

6 (e) TERRORISM RISK SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL.— 

7 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission or Agreement 

8 States, as appropriate, shall provide to participating facili9 ties the risk self-assessment tool provided to the Nuclear 

10 Regulatory Commission by the Secretary pursuant to sec11 tion 1908(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

12 added by section 3 of this Act. The Nuclear Regulatory 

13 Commission and Agreement States shall require all par14 ticipating facilities to use the risk self-assessment tool to 

15 conduct a risk self assessment and provide the results to 

16 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or an Agreement 

17 State, as appropriate, within 30 days of receipt of the risk 

18 self-assessment tool. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

19 shall use these results to tier facilities pursuant to sub20 section (a). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall 

21 make available to the Secretary the results of the risk self22 assessments. 

23 (f) FACILITY SECURITY PLANS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Nuclear Regulatory 

25 Commission shall issue regulations that require the 


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1 owner or operator of a facility containing high-risk 

2 radiological material to create, submit to the Nu3 clear Regulatory Commission and Agreement States, 

4 as appropriate, and implement a facility security 

5 plan to address the vulnerabilities determined by the 

6 facility’s risk assessment and any other requirements 

7 determined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

8 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Agreement 

9 States, as appropriate, shall require a facility secu10 rity plan to be submitted by a participating facility 

11 to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and an 

12 Agreement State within 90 days after submission of 

13 the risk self assessment pursuant to subsection (e). 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—The regulations shall require 

15 that a facility security plan shall describe— 

16 (A) policies, procedures, personnel, and 

17 equipment necessary to implement the plan; 

18 and 

19 (B) the cost of implementation of the plan. 

20 (3) REVIEW OF SECURITY PLANS.—The Nu21 clear Regulatory Commission or an Agreement 

22 State, as appropriate, shall review the facility secu23 rity plan submitted under this subsection for each 

24 facility to ensure the plan meets the requirements of 

25 the facility’s risk tier. 


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1 (4) APPROVAL AND ENFORCEMENT.—The Nu2 clear Regulatory Commission or an Agreement 

3 State, as appropriate, must approve or disapprove a 

4 facility security plan within 90 days of receipt from 

5 the facility. If the facility security plan is not ap6 proved, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or 

7 Agreement State, as appropriate, shall clearly ex8 plain the shortcomings and allow the participating 

9 facility 30 days to correct the facility security plan. 

10 If after 30 days the facility fails to provide to the 

11 Nuclear Regulatory Commission or Agreement 

12 State, as appropriate, an approvable plan, the Nu13 clear Regulatory Commission or Agreement State, as 

14 appropriate, shall apply appropriate penalties to the 

15 facility as described in subsection (c). 

16 (5) SITE VISITS.—The Nuclear Regulatory 

17 Commission or an Agreement State, as appropriate, 

18 shall conduct visits to participating facilities to pro19 vide expert guidance on design and implementation 

20 of the facility security plan. 

21 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to the Nuclear Regu23 latory Commission for carrying out this section 

24 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. The Nuclear Regulatory 

25 Commission is authorized to transfer a portion of those 


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1 funds to Agreement States in order to carry out the re2 quirements of this Act. 

3 SEC. 5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EN4 ERGY. 

5 The Secretary of Energy shall provide technical as6 sistance for securing high-risk radiological materials to the 

7 Department of Homeland Security, the Nuclear Regu8 latory Commission, State and local authorities, and the 

9 participating facilities. 

10 SEC. 6. RADIOLOGICAL DISPERSION DEVICE RECOVERY 

11 AND RESPONSE. 

12 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

13 Act affects the responsibilities of the Department of En14 ergy to recover orphaned sources of radiological materials 

15 or to conduct response and recovery operations with re16 spect to such materials. 

Æ 


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