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108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 193
To direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to evaluate
and demonstrate the operation of radiation detection systems for use at
seaports in the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 17, 2003
Ms. Landrieu introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to evaluate
and demonstrate the operation of radiation detection systems for use at
seaports in the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Radiation Detection for Dirty Bomb
Material in Containers and Bulk Cargo Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the possibility of a terrorist group using a dirty bomb
as a weapon against the United States is 1 of the greatest
threats to national security;
(2) it is not difficult to transport dirty bomb material
and conventional explosives into the United States in a sea
freight container or bulk material cargo;
(3) because of the threat of dirty bombs to national
security and the limitations of the current radiation detection
system with respect to detecting dirty bombs, the Secretary of
Energy should carry out a program to demonstrate the operation
of a large-scale radiation detection system that uses advanced
scanning technologies to enable more sea freight containers and
bulk material cargo to be inspected at seaports and places of
entry by land;
(4) in selecting a system for demonstration, the Secretary
should give priority to existing radiation detection
technologies that--
(A) have proven to be effective nationally and
internationally;
(B) may be quickly implemented; and
(C) are capable of detecting radioactive sources in
sea freight containers and bulk material cargo to a
reasonable depth;
(5) the selected system should--
(A) screen sea freight containers and bulk material
cargo without, to the maximum extent practicable,
inhibiting the flow of commerce at seaports and places
of entry by land;
(B) operate at a level capable of detecting a
heavily shielded, concealed, radioactive source; and
(C) have the capability of distinguishing between--
(i) a nonthreatening radioactive source;
and
(ii) a radioactive source that is being
used, or capable of being used, as a dirty
bomb;
(6) any information that is obtained during the scanning of
sea freight containers and bulk material cargo should be
maintained in a central data collection system to be archived
in real-time and made available to the appropriate Federal,
State, and local agencies for use in tracking and analyzing
trends and alarm conditions and operating radiation detection
systems;
(7) pilot projects for monitoring sea freight containers
and bulk material cargo that are carried out under this Act
should incorporate information obtained from all other national
and international projects pertaining to inspection of sea
containers and cargo shipped across places of entry by land;
and
(8) in developing the final procedures and protocols for
monitoring sea freight containers and bulk material cargo for
radiation, the Secretary should ensure that the procedures and
protocols--
(A) address situations that seaport and land
authorities may confront during the scanning of
incoming cargoes; and
(B) provide the seaport and land authorities with
the necessary guidance to adequately respond to the
situations.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Program.--The term ``program'' means the radiation
detection system demonstration program carried out under
section 4.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
(3) System.--The term ``system'' means a radiation
detection system.
SEC. 4. RADIATION DETECTION SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a program to--
(1) maintain and expand ongoing seaport and land radiation
detection system projects;
(2) use existing laboratory relationships and expertise in
large-scale radiation monitoring systems;
(3) evaluate radiation detection systems for use at
seaports and places of entry by land in the United States; and
(4) select at least 1 system for demonstration at a seaport
and 1 system for demonstration at a place of entry by land.
(b) Evaluation of Systems.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct an evaluation
of existing state-of-the-art systems that provide the highest
degree of detection capability for radioactive sources that may
be hidden in sea freight containers or cargo crossing land
borders.
(2) Technology.--The Secretary shall emphasize the rapid
development of existing technology and systems on completion of
the evaluation.
(c) Selection of System for Demonstration.--
(1) In general.--A system selected by the Secretary--
(A) may include hardware components such as
detectors, instrumentation, and communication hardware;
and
(B) shall include--
(i) integration of the hardware;
(ii) reporting procedures and protocols;
and
(iii) coordination for decisionmaking,
databases, and related software developments.
(2) Proximity to material.--In selecting a system for
demonstration, the Secretary shall--
(A) take into consideration that it is critical
that the system be located as close as possible to the
material to be scanned; and
(B) select a system that allows for close
proximity.
(3) Technology field operational time.--The Secretary shall
select for demonstration a system that uses a technology that
has proven field operational time.
(d) Demonstration.--
(1) Use of knowledge gained from previous study.--In the
demonstration phase of the program, the Secretary shall--
(A) incorporate knowledge gained from the study
conducted at Port of New Orleans before the date of
enactment of this Act; and
(B) expand on that knowledge to account for
material shipped in containers.
(2) Duration.--The demonstration phase of the program shall
be completed not later than 2 years after the date on which
funding is made available for the program.
(3) Future Needs.--As part of the demonstration phase, the
Secretary shall--
(A) identify needs for future research and
improvement for continued development of emerging
systems; and
(B) make Federal, State, and local agencies with
responsibilities relating to seaport and land
authorities aware of those needs.
(e) Requirements.--
(1) Data.--Regardless of the operational condition of a
system, all data detected by the system shall be collected,
displayed, and archived.
(2) Durability.--A system shall be capable of withstanding
critical acceleration caused by severe impacts and rough
handling, that are attendant to the monitoring of containers
and bulk material being unloaded from a ship.
(3) Radiation detected.--A system shall be capable of
detecting gammas and neutrons emitted by isotopes that could be
used to construct a dirty bomb, including cobalt-60, cesium-
137, iridium-192, iodine-131, and americium-241/beryllium.
(4) System operation.--The operation of a system shall be
fully automatic.
(5) Detection time.--A system shall be capable of detecting
radiation in a container that will not significantly inhibit
the flow of commerce.
(6) Background.--A system shall be sensitive to
fluctuations in background levels.
SEC. 5. PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOLS FOR DETECTION AND REPORTING.
In connection with the program, the Secretary shall develop
standard procedures and protocols for detection and reporting of data
collected from radiation collection systems to allow synchronization of
technical approaches to detection and harmonize coordination efforts
among agencies.
SEC. 6. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall develop a national technical
assistance program to share and propagate the experiences gained in
conducting the program.
(b) Stakeholders.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary
shall solicit the views of stakeholders (including members of the
National Maritime Security Advisory Committee, local port authorities,
the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, Inc., and the
Health Physics Society) to encourage the greatest level of
participation in the development of a national program of radiation
detection systems.
SEC. 7. INTERNSHIPS.
In connection with the program, the Secretary shall provide student
internships to universities in States with significant seaports that
focus on academic programs pertaining to radiation detection and
radiation health physics.
SEC. 8. REPORT.
At the conclusion of the program, the Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report that describes the results of the program.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years
2004 through 2007 such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.
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