General Lab Information

Radiological Response Programs

Region I Radiological Assistance Program

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s regional Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) is the nation’s premier first-response resource for advising federal, state, local and tribal decision-makers on steps to take to evaluate and minimize the hazards of a radiological or nuclear incident.

RAP’s support ranges from providing technical information or advice over the telephone to sending highly trained personnel with state-of-the-art equipment to the incident site. Working with the regional partners, team members help to identify, characterize, and provide technical assessment of radiological or nuclear hazards.

This asset is a regionally-based capability covering New England and the mid-Atlantic states to facilitate a rapid, flexible, and efficient response. In addition to supporting the program’s response missions, RAP develops and conducts classroom training and drills tailored to meet the needs of our first responder partners.

  • NNSA's Radiological Assistance Program celebrates 60 years

    October 2, 2018

    First formed by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1968, Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) teams are regionally located throughout the United States for rapid response. These technical experts are equipped to conduct radiological searches, provide science-based monitoring and tailored assessment activities, and advise on public safety. Through the years, RAP remained a program under the agencies into which the AEC evolved: first the Energy Research and Development Agency and then the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2000, RAP was moved to the newly formed National Nuclear Security Administration. Today RAP continues to reside within the nuclear security enterprise in NNSA’s counterterrorism and counterproliferation organization.

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