The Proposed NRC Material Access Screening Program

The need for a personnel screening system for access to special nuclear material (SNM) and, in more recent years, to vital areas at power reactors, has long been recognized. It seems to be the diversity and complexity of the issues involved which have forestalled development of a working system. The debate over what type of system should be used and what investigative techniques may be employed cuts across the lines of energy demand, security needs, health and safety concerns, management policies, and individual rights. The task of balancing these factors against each other to arrive at an optimal system is indeed formidable.