A cassette handling system for sterilant filled cassettes employs RFID or other electromagnetic signal technology to track the cassettes.A method for tracking the sterilant cassettes includes the steps of reading for the presence of a cassette within a cassette processing area of the sterilizer by transmitting a non-optical electromagnetic signal between the cassette and a receiver on the sterilizer, via the electromagnetic signal transmitting identifying information between the cassette and the receiver, and verifying that a proper cassette is loaded into the sterilizer based upon the identifying information.