Title: High-Risk Radioactive Material Disposal 

Description: Radioactive materials are commonly used for medical,
industrial and research purposes. But after use, what's being done to
ensure radioactive materials are disposed of safely. In a new report, we
look at these concerns. GAO's Allison Bawden joins us to tell us more.

Related GAO Work: GAO-24-105998, High-Risk Radioactive Material:
Opportunities Exist to Improve the Security of Sources No Longer in Use

Released: November 2023

[MUSIC]

[Allison Bawden:] Radioactive sources that are beyond their useful lives
still can pose safety and security risks, and they should be disposed
of.

[Holly Hobbs:] Hi and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report. Your source for
fact-based, nonpartisan news and information from the U.S. Government
Accountability Office. I'm your host, Holly Hobbs. Radioactive materials
are commonly used for medical, industrial and research purposes. For
example, these materials are used to treat cancer or to sterilize
medical instruments. But after use, what's being done to ensure
radioactive materials are disposed of safely? In a new report, we look
this issue. Joining us to tell us more is GAO's Allison Bawden, an
expert on radioactive material security. Thanks for joining us.

[Allison Bawden:] Thanks for having me, Holly.

[Holly Hobbs:] So Allison, why is this important? What were the concerns
that led us to look at this issue?

[Allison Bawden:] Well, all radioactive sources have a useful life, but
eventually they decay. And at that point, ideally, these sources would
be disposed of. But for some very commonly used radioactive sources
there are no requirements for when a licensee must dispose of the
material. And disposal can be really expensive--sometimes as much as
$200,000 per source. So, there's a risk that these sources will become
abandoned or orphaned rather than safely disposed of. Orphaned sources
pose risks, especially that they could be mishandled or used to make a
dirty bomb, and that could result in tens of billions of dollars in
socio-economic impacts.

[Holly Hobbs:] So the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the NRC, and the
Department of Energy, they're supposed to oversee disposal of
radioactive materials, right? How do they do this? 

[Allison Bawden:] That's right. NRC, or states to which it has delegated
this authority, regulate the possession of radioactive materials. And
NRC sets the rules for licensees to store these materials securely and
safely. They also license commercial disposal facilities. The Department
of Energy also has a facility deep underground for the most hazardous
waste from these sources that can't be disposed of commercially. So, NRC
does not set requirements for licensees to actually dispose of all of
these sources. There's a little bit of a nuance there. Some states do
have requirements and incentives to dispose of sources, such as setting
time limits for the disposal and imposing fees, if a licensee holds on
to an unused source for too long. These requirements are designed to
limit the number of sources that could become orphaned or abandoned. 

[Holly Hobbs:] This idea of radioactive materials--this term, right--it's
like a bucket term that's supposed to cover a bunch of different
hazardous materials. Do those materials have different shelf-lives or
other differences that would impact their disposal?

[Allison Bawden:] That's right. So what's most important for waste is
the concentration of radioactive isotopes that are in that waste. And
that determines how hazardous the waste is and for how long it will be
hazardous. The rules around disposal are essentially tied to this level
of hazard. So those with lower concentrations of radioactive isotopes
are at least hazardous, and those can be disposed of at commercial
facilities licensed by NRC or state regulators. Sometimes they can also
be recycled. But those with higher concentrations are more hazardous
and, in some cases, can only be disposed of in the Department of
Energy's facility. But in one particular case, for waste associated with
a material called Americium 241, especially those sources that are of
foreign origin. So they're imported. They're not made domestically.
There's actually no legal pathway for disposing of that material. This
material is in wide use throughout the country. And so, when it's no
longer useful, right now, it has nowhere to go.

[Holly Hobbs:] So what is the NRC and the Department of Energy doing to
help address these challenges?

[Allison Bawden:] NRC is exploring new rules to expand requirements for
licensees to make arrangements at the time that they obtain a source to
cover the costs of disposal. NRC does not yet know whether smaller
sources would be covered by these financial assurances. And of course,
the Department of Energy continues to implement its programs to offset
the cost of disposal of certain sources, and to recover orphaned sources
and dispose of them when they learn of their location. But NRC and DOE
are both in a bind when it comes to the radioactive waste that currently
does not have an approved pathway for disposal. We've previously
suggested that Congress provide direction to the Department of Energy so
that it can proceed with a decision on how to dispose of this waste and
where.

{MUSIC}

[Holly Hobbs:] Allison just told us that while there are requirements to
dispose of radioactive materials, these aren't specific enough to
promote timely disposal. And that sometimes, even when users want to
dispose of materials, the cost might be too high or there's no pathway
for doing so.

[Holly Hobbs:] So, Allison, what more do we think the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and the Department of Energy should be doing to improve how
radioactive materials are disposed of?

[Allison Bawden:] We identified six leading practices endorsed by key
organizations that are not reflected in NRC's requirements. We
recommended that NRC assess these practices to determine if they would
minimize the time licensees hold on to unneeded sources. So, some
examples of these practices are extending financial assurances to cover
high-risk, but smaller sources, tracking smaller sources, not just large
ones, to have better knowledge about where abandoned or orphaned sources
might be. Other things are establishing possession time limits or fees
for retaining sources that are past their prime or creating orphan
source funds.

[Holly Hobbs:] And last question. What's the bottom line of this report?

[Allison Bawden:] Radioactive sources that are beyond their useful lives
still can pose safety and security risks, and they should be disposed to
prevent their misuse. NRC has not assessed leading practices to
determine if implementing them would reduce these risks. And we think
they should.

[Holly Hobbs:] That was Allison Bawden talking about GAO's new report on
radioactive materials. Thanks for your time, Allison.

[Allison Bawden:] Thank you so much.

[Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To
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