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Nuclear Forensics: A Capability at Risk - Abbreviated Version
nuclear forensics in the United States. DHS's responsibility can only be carried out with the cooperation and support of the other agencies involved.
The committee recommends the following. DHS and the other cooperating agencies should:
Streamline the organizational structure, aligning authority and responsibility; anddevelop and issue appropriate requirements documents.
Issue a coordinated and integrated implementation plan for fulfilling therequirements and sustaining and improving the program's capabilities. This plan would form the basis for the agencies' multi-year program budget requests.
Implement a plan to build and maintain an appropriately sized and composed nuclearforensics workforce, ensuring sufficient staffing at the national laboratories and support for university research, training programs, and collaborative relationships among the national laboratories and other organizations.
Adapt nuclear forensics to the challenges of real emergency situations, including, for example, conducting more realistic exercises that are unannounced and that challenge regulations and procedures followed in the normal work environment, and implementing lessons learned.
The national laboratories should:
Optimize procedures and equipment through R&D to meet program requirements. Modeling and simulation should play an increased role in research, development, and planning.
The nuclear forensics community should:
Develop standards and procedures for nuclear forensics that are rooted in the same underlying principles that have been recommended to guide modern forensic science.
DHS and the other cooperating agencies should:
Devise and implement a plan that enables access to relevant information indatabases—including classified and proprietary databases—for nuclear forensics missions.
The Executive Office of the President and the Department of State, working with the community of nuclear forensics experts, should:
Determine the classes of data and methods that are to be shared internationally and explore mechanisms to accomplish that sharing.
