Audit Report: IG-0546

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.