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Abstract Number:	20030140
Headline:	International Conference on Security of Radioactive Sources held in Vienna under joint sponsorship of US, Russia and IAEA
Date:	13 March 2003
Bibliography:	IAEA press centre, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Press
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Material:	Radioactive Isotopes

Abstract:
    More than 700 delegates from over 120 countries gathered at the International Conference on Security of Radioactive Sources in Vienna on 11-13 March 2003 to discuss the threat posed by radioactive materials and the radiation dispersal devices or "dirty bombs" that they could be used to build.  The conference was co-sponsored by the United States and Russia, hosted by the Austrian government and organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in conjunction with international customs and law enforcement agencies.  IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei said at the conference that there are millions of radiological sources in use throughout the world, with hundreds of thousands currently being used, stored, and produced.[1]  The sources are used in a wide range of applications from diagnosing and treating diseases to monitoring oil wells and aquifers.[1]  ElBaradei noted that most of these radioactive materials are weak and that the focus should be on preventing the theft or loss of the most powerful sources, such as those used in industrial radiography, radiotherapy, industrial irradiators and thermo-electric generators.[1]  Such sources contain large amounts of radioactive material, such as cobalt-60, strontium-90, cesium-137, and iridium-192 and therefore must be a priority of control and monitoring efforts.[1]  Several powerful radioactive sources have already been recovered in countries such as Georgia, Moldova and Afghanistan.  [For more information on these efforts, see abstracts 20020510, 20020670 and 20020250.]  The IAEA has tabulated more than 20,000 operators who use significant radioactive sources, including 10,000 radiotherapy units, 12,000 industrial sources for radiography that are produced annually, and 300 industrial irradiator facilities.  The IAEA has found that more than 100 countries may lack the minimum infrastructure to properly control radioactive sources.  There are also 50 countries that are not IAEA member states and as such may have no regulatory infrastructure.  The recovery of significant radioactive materials that are outside effective regulatory control is of the greatest concern, particularly in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (NIS).   These so called "orphaned" sources endanger the populations around them and are prime targets for terrorist groups hoping to construct RDDs.  The problem of controlling such potentially deadly materials is one that needs to be addressed in virtually all countries that use such materials.  The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports that US companies have lost track of 1,500 radioactive sources since 1996, half of which have yet to be recovered.[1]  Bearing these and other facts in mind, the conference produced two major recommendations:  
    1. An international effort to facilitate the location, recovery and              
    securing of orphaned radioactive sources throughout the world should
    be launched under the aegis of the IAEA; and
    2. An international initiative to encourage and assist governments in    
    their efforts to establish effective national infrastructures and to fulfill
    their responsibilities should be launched under the aegis of the IAEA,
    and the IAEA should promote broad adherence to the Code of Conduct
    on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources once its revised
    version has been approved.[2] 
These findings are further broken down into the following tasks:          
    1. Identifying, searching for, recovering and securing high-risk
    radioactive sources;
    2. Strengthening long-term control over radioactive sources;
    3. Interdicting illicit trafficking;
    4. Establishing roles and responsibilities;
    5. Planning the response to radiological emergencies arising from the malevolent use of radioactive sources; and
    6. Determining the role of the media and public education, communication and outreach.[2] 
    Among the many specific measures the report calls for is the development by all states of national action plans to locate, recover, and secure high-risk radioactive sources; the formulation and implementation of national plans for the management of radioactive sources throughout their life-cycle; the further development of measures to detect, interdict and respond to illicit trafficking in these materials, as well as further research on and deployment of detection technologies for use at borders and ports; and collaboration among governments, licensees and international organizations to secure high-risk radioactive sources.[2]  The report also calls on all states and the IAEA to work together to enhance the current national and international arrangements for responding to the possible malevolent use of these materials.[2]

[1] "Inadequate Control of World's Radioactive Sources," IAEA Worldatom website, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom.   
[2] "Findings of the President of the Conference," IAEA Worldatom website, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom.