NEW PAMTRAK FEATURES

Recent developments throughout the world as well as a desire to decrease the federal budget deficit are changing the United States' policies toward nuclear weapons and materials. Many existing nuclear weapons are being dismantled, their contents joining raw material and waste already in short-term storage. Environmental cleanup is adding to the amount of radioactive waste that must be stored. There are significant costs associated with protecting stored nuclear and radioactive material. Much of the material is attractive to terrorists or agents of foreign countries. If stolen, some of it could be used to build nuclear weapons to be used against the United States. These concerns necessitate the use of hardened vaults within intrusion detection perimeters and round-the-clock, rapid-response guard forces. There are costs aside from protection associated with storing nuclear and radioactive material. Stored material must be inventoried periodically, as mandated by the United States Department of Energy, to prove its continued presence and integrity. Inventories are generally expensive due to the time and manpower required to meet health, safety and security requirements. Vaults containing highly radioactive material can be especially expensive to inventory. A worker inventorying a vault containing highly radioactive material can easily receive the permissible yearly radiation dose before finishing the inventory; such a vault would require multiple workers to complete the inventory. Furthermore, the workers who have received their permissible yearly radiation dose may not work in any radioactive areas for the rest of the year.