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Through the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the Department of Energy (Department) and its predecessor agencies provided nuclear materials to foreign facilities as part of the Atoms for Peace Program. While this program was designed to aid other nations in developing their own nuclear energy capabilities, the materials provided, including fuel rods, sealed sources, and raw materials, remained U.S. Government-owned. Beginning in the 1960s, the U.S. discontinued its policy of lending the material, and began to transfer ownership through sale or donation. However, according to Departmental records, the U.S. Government still retained title to much of the nuclear material provided to foreign entities. The Department's Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS) was designed, in part, to provide a system of accounting and control over source and special nuclear materials. The Department also maintained a separate registry to account for and track the location of "Sealed Sources." Sealed Sources, which contain nuclear or radiological material, are packaged to be environmentally safe and are generally used for calibration of radiation measuring and monitoring instruments in nuclear research and development. The Sealed Source registry was discontinued in 1984. In October 2001, the Office of Inspector General issued a report on Accounting for Government-owned Nuclear Materials Provided to Non-Department Domestic Facilities (DOE/IG-0529). That report found, among other things, that the Department could not fully account for sealed sources of nuclear material loaned to domestic licensees. In view of this finding and recent world events, we initiated this audit to determine whether the Department could account for Government-owned sealed sources provided to foreign countries.

Accounting for Sealed Sources of Nuclear Material Provided to Foreign Countries

The INEEL CAB recommends that DOE host a community-based forum to identify the range of acceptable future site missions and desired end states

Issued to Westinghouse Savannah River Company related to Safety Basis and Radiation Protection Violations at the Savannah River Site, March 19, 2002 (EA-2002-01)

The Department of Energy (Department) has been storing 2,100 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington. The fuel, used in support of Hanford's former mission, is currently stored in canisters that are kept in two enclosed water-filled pools known as the K Basins. The K Basins represent a significant risk to the environment due to their deteriorating condition. In fact, the K East Basin, which is near the Columbia River, has leaked contaminated water into the underlying soil and groundwater. Initiated in the early 1990s, the Department's Spent Nuclear Fuel Project is aimed at decreasing human and environmental risks by removing the spent fuel from the present storage conditions and placing it into safe, cost-effective interim dry storage until a national geologic repository is available. The spent fuel project includes removing the fuel from the canisters and cleaning and repackaging it into multi-canister overpacks. The overpacks are then transported to other Hanford facilities to dry the fuel and for interim storage.strat

Completion of K Basins Milestones

Transmission System Vegetation Management Program

Oak Ridge Y–12 National Security Complex

Sealed radioactive sources consist of radioactive material either contained within a sealed capsule, sealed between layers of non-radioactive material, or firmly fixed to a non-radioactive surface. Statistics in the United States Radiation Accident Registry show that of the 246 major radiation accidents in the United States between 1944 and 2000, 110 were caused by sealed radioactive sources.