Idaho State University Fined For Losing Weapons-Grade Plutonium

POCATELLO, ID — Federal regulators say Idaho State University lost a small amount of radioactive, weapons-grade plutonium, a substance used to make nuclear weapons. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week proposed fining the university $8,500 for failing to maintain control and monitor 1 gram of radioactive material — enough to make a "dirty bomb."

The agency says the university, based in Pocatello, also failed to provide accurate and complete information to the NRC in its inventory records.

The NRC said in a release that it considered the loss of plutonium a "significant regulatory concern" due to the possibility that an unauthorized person could gain access to it or use it.

Regulators met with university representatives in March to discuss the alleged violations. The university, which has taken corrective actions, has until June 3 to challenge the fine or request that a neutral third-party mediator get involved.

According to an inspection report, an employee conducting a routine inventory of special nuclear material discovered a discrepancy: the internal inventory and the inventory reported to federal regulators didn't match up. One report said the university had 14 small plutonium sources. The other said there were 13.

The school told The Associated Press in an email that they were using the substance to try to find ways to prevent nuclear waste containers from leaking, as well as figure out how to detect whether radioactive materials were being brought into the country illegally.

The licensee tracked down records and found documents dating to 2003 identifying the missing source and indicating it was still on campus awaiting disposal.

"However, no documents of the licensee’s, its academic partners, or its waste vendors could be found indicating the source had been transferred or properly disposed," the report says.

The university searched the campus looking for it, to no avail.

After reporting the missing substance to federal regulators in October, the university concluded it was most likely no longer on the campus. But there was no proof that it had been sent to another authorized organization or waste broker.

The amount that was lost was not enough to make a nuclear bomb, agency spokesman Victor Dricks told AP on Friday. But it could be used to make a dirty bomb that would spread radioactive contamination.

The university planned to return its remaining plutonium sources to the U.S. Department of Energy "at the first available opportunity," the report says.

Dr. Cornelis Van der Schyf, vice president of research at the university, faulted incomplete paperwork from when the school tried to dispose of the plutonium.

"Unfortunately, because there was a lack of sufficient historical records to demonstrate the disposal pathway employed in 2003, the source in question had to be listed as missing," he said in a statement to AP. "The radioactive source in question poses no direct health issue or risk to public safety."

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