From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Reducing the Use of Radioactive Materials Description: Radioactive materials are commonly used in medical and industrial devices, and for research purposes. But if they fell into the wrong hands, even in small amounts, these radioactive materials could be combined with explosives to create dirty bombs. We find out more from GAO's Allison Bawden. Related GAO Work: GAO-22-104113, Alternatives to Radioactive Materials: A National Strategy to Support Alterative Technologies May Reduce Risks of a Dirty Bomb Released: October 2021 [Allison Bawden:] The federal government should have a national strategy and ensure that there are no barriers to the adoption of viable alternative technologies. [Holly Hobbs:] Hi, and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office—celebrating 100 years of fact-based, nonpartisan government oversight. I'm Holly Hobbs. Radioactive materials are commonly used in medical and industrial devices, and for research purposes. But if they fell into the wrong hands, even in small amounts, these radioactive materials could be combined with explosives to create dirty bombs. Recent security threats have raised concerns that terrorists could steal radioactive materials and use them in domestic attacks. With those threats in mind, GAO was asked to look at alternatives for radioactive technologies and factors that may affect their adoption. Today, we'll find out more from Allison Bawden, an expert on U.S. nuclear weapons management and a Director in our Natural Resources and Environment Team. Thanks for joining us, Allison. [Allison Bawden:] Thank you so much for having me. [Holly Hobbs:] So, Allison, can you give us some examples of medical or industrial applications where radioactive material is commonly used? [Allison Bawden:] Yeah, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there are about 2 million of these radiological sources in use in the United States. And for medical applications, common uses are for irradiating blood, for example, before transfusions for certain kinds of cancer treatment like stereotactic radiosurgery and also for medical research. In the industrial sector, radiological materials are used for everything from industrial sterilization of agricultural products, scanning welds and pipelines for cracks and for determining if oil and gas wells are viable. [Holly Hobbs:] So what's stopping somebody from walking into a hospital and stealing radioactive materials, and then making a dirty bomb? [Allison Bawden:] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission does have an extensive set of requirements to ensure that those materials are properly controlled and that their use is safeguarded. Those controls apply based on the risk of the material. So for higher-risk materials, there might need to be a robust set of locks on the rooms where these things are stored. Cameras. There might be requirements to track the locations of these materials in a national database. But as the risk level of these materials goes down, fewer of those security controls apply. And what we've seen, in the course of sort of 15 years of work on this, is that even with those robust security controls in place, they don't always work in practice. So we've seen examples where radiological equipment is stored behind a lock, but the combination for that lock is written on the doorframe. [Holly Hobbs:] And have there been thefts or accidents? [Allison Bawden:] There have been thefts. A recent accident really, I think, best exemplifies the fiscal risk to the government of having these materials in use to the extent they are now. Back in May of 2019, at the University of Washington, there was a small amount of cesium that was accidentally released in a medical building. And that release resulted in $150 million in cleanup costs for the federal government, as well as closure of that building for 2 years. So that example, while not a theft or a terrorist incident, really does show the impact to the federal government when these materials get out into the environment. [Holly Hobbs:] OK, those are the problems. What are the alternatives? [Allison Bawden:] It really depends on the application for the technology. For example, in the medical sector, X-ray devices could be used instead of blood or irradiators that use cesium. Linear accelerators are another alternative for use in cancer treatment. And then in the industrial sterilizations application, there are opportunities to use technologies based on X-ray or electron beam instead of technologies that use, for example, cobalt. [Holly Hobbs:] I image there's some barriers that may be preventing the use of alternatives, right? Like cost. [Allison Bawden:] Cost is certainly one of them. The cost can be for the device itself, but it can also be the cost of converting to those materials, like facility renovations, in order to use a different type of technology. There can also be costs associated with the disposal of the radioactive materials that a user might currently have. There are the costs of regulatory requirements. And there are also costs associated with liability for possessing high risk radioactive materials. The extent these factors affect adoption of alternative technologies really differ based on the industry. So, for example, if you have a big cesium based bloody irradiator, it could cost as much as $200,000 to dispose of that material. And so paying for that disposal might be a barrier to adopting an alternative technology, since the user would already have the cesium based technology. [Holly Hobbs:] What then is the federal government doing about all this? [Allison Bawden:] There are a number of agencies that are conducting research or evaluating the status of alternative technologies right now. So the Department of Energy's Office of Science is undertaking research into alternative technologies, especially in industrial radiography and well logging. And the Department of Homeland Security and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as well as the National Academy of Sciences, have all recently released reports evaluating alternatives. But the main federal program to promote alternative technology in the government is the National Nuclear Security Administration's Cesium Irradiator Replacement Project or CIRP [pronounced: ‘chirp']. The CIRP program removes blood and research irradiators and pays for half the cost of replacing them with X-ray devices. Since about 2004, and NSA has removed 355 irradiators and has a goal to remove all of them from the United States by 2027. {Music} [Holly Hobbs:] So Allison just told us that devises using radioactive materials pose risks to those who use them as well as the public at large, and that the federal government is taking steps to reduce their number. But that there are some key barriers like costs slowing their replacement. Allison, it sounds like the problem is bigger than just one agency. What might lawmakers do to promote alternative technologies? [Allison Bawden:] That is so true. The issue is that no specific agency is leading the effort in the federal government to look at alternatives. And we've identified instances where some agencies may even be at cross purposes. And so we think that harmonizing these efforts is really important. And that's why we're asking Congress to consider establishing a national strategy to achieve permanent risk reduction where possible, and to ensure that barriers to adopting alternative technologies are minimized to the greatest extent possible. We're also asking Congress to consider authorizing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to incorporate consideration of alternative technologies into its licensing processes for these types of applications, such as by requiring licenses to justify their need for radioactive materials during the licensing process. [Holly Hobbs:] And last question, what's the bottom line of this report? [Allison Bawden:] We recognize that radiological materials will be necessary in medical and industrial sectors for years to come. But the federal government is facing a significant potential risk—if someone stole that material and used it in a dirty bomb or there was some other type of radiological accident. And while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extensive systems of requirements and controls to properly secure radiological materials, our work over the last 15 years has repeatedly shown that these systems don't always work and that there are meaningful gaps that persist. And so where feasible, the federal government should have a national strategy to encourage permanent risk reduction and ensure that there are no barriers to the adoption of viable alternative technologies. [Holly Hobbs:] That was Allison Bawden talking about GAO's recent review of alternatives to radioactive materials. Thanks for your time, Allison. [Allison Bawden:] Thank you so much for having me. [Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. And make sure to leave a rating and review to let others know about the work we're doing. For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at GAO.gov.