Carper introduces EPMA amendment to overhaul radiological waste system

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) recently introduced an amendment to the proposed Energy Policy Modernization Act, S. 2012, that would require an overhaul of the way that the government treats the radiological waste industry.

The introduced amendment would require the administration to give Congress an actionable plan for securing low-level radiological materials commonly found in medical and industrial waste.

One facet of the steps outlined in the amendment would strengthen or intensify the vetting process for employees in the industrial waste disposal industry. Other measures in the amendment include prohibiting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from granting a radiological materials license to any individual who is on the terrorism watch list or has been convicted of abetting terrorism.

The NRC would also be mandated to temporarily suspend a radiological license if it discovers that a license-holder has given unsupervised access privileges to any employee who is on the terrorism watch list, or who has been convicted of providing material support for terrorism, or has been convicted of making terroristic threats.

“Recent reports have made it clear that some industrial radiological sources are far too vulnerable to theft or sabotage by terrorists or others wishing to do us harm,” Carper said. “We must do more to keep these materials from falling into the wrong hands. My amendment makes common-sense improvements to existing safeguards to ensure that terrorist groups like ISIS or Al-Qaeda can’t access this material to develop a dirty bomb.”