DEVELOPMENT OF TRAINING COURSE ON TRANSPORT SECURITY OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS

Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne), with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Packaging Certification Program (PCP), is developing a week-long training course on security for nuclear and other radioactive materials during transport. The course will focus on United States (U.S.) domestic and international requirements for transport security. A review of applicable U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, newly issued U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations, DOE orders and manuals, and relevant international modal regulatory documents relating to transport security was conducted. The review disclosed that existing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) security training materials could be incorporated into a training course on security requirements for U.S. domestic shippers. Development of training materials for such a course was initiated in late 2012, and plans are underway to convene the first course in early December 2013 at Argonne. The course will also incorporate training and hands-on transport security applications of the ARG-US Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system for monitoring the state of health of packages of radioactive and other hazardous materials and for tracking the location of the packages and conveyances during transport and in-transit storage. Participants of the course will (1) obtain insight into both U.S. and international security measures needed for transport and for in-transit stopping and storage; (2) gain experience in preparing transport security plans (TSPs) for specific shipments, in performing readiness reviews based on those TSPs, and in identifying needed corrective actions and taking steps to correct deficiencies; and (3) learn by hands-on exercises how to apply the ARG-US RFID system to enhance transport security.