Closing the Gap In Export Licensing Rules of High-Risk Radioactive Sources

This paper describes a significant gap in current U.S. export licensing rules that could facilitate illicit commerce in high-risk radioactive sources. Such sources could end up in radiological dispersal devices. U.S. export licensing rules permit the unlimited export of most high-risk radioactive sources under “general” licenses to all nations, except Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Sudan. Exports of these materials can be made without any governmental review of the credentials of end-users. This paper analyzes recent efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency to improve the export controls of high-risk radioactive sources. Furthermore, the paper addresses how to ensure that legitimate end-users, such as cancer treatment centers, receive radioactive sources in a timely manner. The major recommendation is for governments to implement some type of “specific” licensing requirements in order to be assured that a governmental review of high-risk shipments will take place. Another recommendation is for greater coordination and cooperation among major radioactive source producing and exporting nations in order to set higher security standards.