Keeping the Heat off the Street: RadSecLEXIS – a Tool for Tracking
Radiological Material Security Legislation

Tens of thousands of radioactive sources are in use around the world for medical, commercial, and other beneficial purposes, vulnerable both to everyday mishaps and to the vagaries of conflict and war, as illustrated by recent headlines and the uncertain fate of radioactive material in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has published a number of guidance documents on radiological material security best practices for states to enshrine in national implementing legislation. But studies indicate that implementation is far from comprehensive. To address this challenge, the Stimson Center undertook a project to measure countries’ efforts to implement IAEA guidance in law, with the goal of making the measurements and the laws and regulations available to those seeking examples of national implementing measures. This paper will present how the project team identified relevant legal and regulatory measures and explore the practical and methodological challenges encountered in evaluating them against key elements of the IAEA’s guidance. It will go on to describe a proofof-concept Radiological Source Security Legal Index and Online Tool that the team created to share preliminary project datasets and results with national regulatory authorities for feedback and updates before making the final results more widely available.