Accomplishments and lessons learned from the United States Department of Energy's Domestic Radiological Threat Reduction Programme

The United States Department of Energy (USDOE) recovers excess and unwanted sealed radiation sources in the USA through its Offsite Source Recovery Project (OSRP). The OSRP is now included in the USDOE's Global Threat Reduction Initiative announced in March 2004. The excess and unwanted sources being addressed by this effort consist of ten isotopes that either lack a permanent disposition path or are considered to present high radiological security risks. This project recently exceeded the 10 000 mark for excess sealed sources recovered for safe and secure storage. These sources consisted mainly of 241Am and 238Pu. The programme has expanded its efforts into additional radionuclides. Since 2004, the first substantial amounts of 60Co, 137Cs and 90Sr have been recovered. Commercial contractors safely removed nearly 500 of these sources from a bankrupt and abandoned Pennsylvania facility. In another action, 137Cs irradiators were removed from public schools in the New York City area. Most of these sources have been disposed of or recycled. The paper describes the USDOE's radiological threat reduction programme. (author)