Global Security Newswire

The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed by a wide margin a measure that seeks to boost the United States' nuclear forensics capacity, Environment and Energy Daily reported (see GSN, Dec. 24, 2009).

The Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act now awaits President Barack Obama's signature. Under the legislation, the Homeland Security Department would be obligated to concentrate and enhance work in this sector under the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Center.

The bill is intended to strengthen the recruitment and technical education of nuclear forensic scientists by establishing college scholarships for students and faculty at national nuclear laboratories and associated national departments. The legislation also recommends that the White House include in treaty negotiations procedures for the swapping of sensitive nuclear material information.

Nuclear forensics employs a wide range of sciences and advanced technology to trace back the origins of a sample of radioactive material. U.S. national laboratories and federal security experts have called for a more robust forensics capability in the country.

The capacity to identify the origins of nuclear-weapon material seized in transit or used in an attack is considered critical for national security interests and for public health reasons associated with rehabilitation of an area contaminated during an incident.

Knowing that the United States has the ability to identify a nuclear sample's country of origin could also serve as a serious deterrent to nations or organizations considering the sale of weapons materials (Katherine Ling, Environment and Energy Daily, Jan. 22).