U.S., Russian Teams Work Toward Global Threat Reduction

November 17, 2009

Before President Obama proposed his plan to decrease the dangers of nuclear terrorism and globally secure at-risk nuclear materials, the Remote Sensing Laboratory personnel already had several decades of experience detecting and handling nuclear materials and sealed sources. They had also teamed with Russian scientists more than 10 years ago to help reduce lethal levels of uranium for productive use stateside (see “HEU Transparency Program in Russia” sidebar).

Millions of radioactive sealed sources are used around the world for legitimate and beneficial applications. Some of these applications include cancer treatment, remote electricity generation, food and blood sterilization, and scientific research. However, many of these sources are poorly guarded or have become abandoned, thus making them attractive targets for theft or sabotage. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, radiological materials have been sought by the al-Qaeda terrorist network to use in a radiological dispersal device, or “dirty bomb.”

To counter this threat, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) in 2004. GTRI works to convert research reactors from the use of highly enriched uranium, or HEU, to low-enriched uranium, or LEU. This removes and disposes excess nuclear and radiological materials, and protects high priority nuclear and radiological materials from theft and sabotage. Of the 130 countries in which GTRI operates, the Russian Federation remains a top priority because of the country’s vast quantities of high-risk radiological materials.

A project within the GTRI seeks to identify and secure abandoned nuclear material sources that terrorists could use to create dirty bombs. This identify-and-secure project is known as the Orphan Source Recoveries, or OSR. Decades ago, when Russia was part of the Soviet Union, the Soviets used sealed radioactive sources for a variety of industrial, agricultural, research and medical applications. After the fall of the Soviet Union, many facilities that used these radioactive sources either lost their funding, went out of business or were forced to change their business model. Some enterprises simply closed down, leaving their sources “orphaned” in their radioactive source units.

The GTRI worked with Rosatom, a Russian nuclear assets agency, to recover and dispose of these vulnerable sources no longer used at sites throughout Russia. The first orphan source recovery occurred in an abandoned office in an occupied building, not far from the Radisson Hotel in Moscow. Since then, there have been more recoveries in more than a dozen Russian cities, as well as a bombed-out chemical factory in Grozny, Chechnya. (Five Chechen separatists died of radiation exposure years earlier after attempting to steal the radioactive sources twice at this chemical factory. Through the GTRI efforts, this threat was eliminated.)

The OSR Global Threat Reduction (GTR) program, worth $53 million, benefits the Nevada Test Site and its operational contractor, National Security Technologies (NSTec) in numerous ways. Because it’s directly funded, the GTR project allowed NSTec to hire two employees to monitor the collection and disposition of these orphan sources. Their efforts have helped the NTS begin or reestablish relationships with foreign governments, which is beneficial for the future of United States.

“RSL’s ongoing involvement in the GTR project continues to address the global terrorist threat by reducing their chances of having access to radiological materials or sources that can potentially hurt the entire world,” says Carson Riland, chief science officer at RSL’s Office of Science. “RSL’s continuing involvement also provides an important aspect for the health and safety of the Russian population by securing the orphan sources and disposing of them before they become an environmental/health hazard.”