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"You may soon need to fear household products you have the most
contact with… this is the legacy of an industry gone mad." --Richard Clapp, Associate
Professor, Boston University School of Public Health
Radioactive waste from the nuclear power industry and nuclear weapons
contractors is being released into the general materials recycling stream
and used to make everyday household items, building materials, and more.
Standards are being developed which stand to dramatically increase the
amount of radioactive material recycled into the marketplace. The U.S.
Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection
Agency and Department of Transportation, the Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency,
the European Commission and other nuclear nation’s governments and industries
all have a role in radioactive "recycling."
The materials being "recycled" range from contaminated metals, concrete
and plastic to asphalt and fill dirt. Once these materials enter the general
recycling stream they are no longer traceable to their sources. In the
absence of sophisticated, expensive detection capabilities and equipment,
consumers will have no way of knowing which items may be contaminated;
producers and workers will also be unaware if the materials they are working
with are contaminated.
The potential impact on public health is enormous because there is no
safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation. Low-level radiation damages
tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules, causing programmed cell
death (apoptosis), genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects,
and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders. Studies show that
long-term exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation can be more dangerous
than short-term exposures to high levels. The practice of releasing and
reusing radioactively contaminated materials into general commerce will
result in random poisoning.
Congressional interest in the practice has focused on setting standards
to legitimize and facilitate the release of contaminated materials, rather
than preventing radioactive release and "recycling." Government agencies
are busy voluntarily codifying reuse of radiation-contaminated material
and setting "acceptable" levels of radioactivity. This may be good for
public relations, but it does not help public safety. Safe levels of ionizing
radiation simply do not exist.
In 1992, Congress revoked similar policies that attempted to declare
that certain levels of potential radiation exposure were "below regulatory
concern." Current government efforts are dressing up the rejected "below
regulatory concern" concept by applying the environmentally friendly sounding
term "recycling."
Radioactive "Recycling" Update - from the Nuclear Monitor,
Vol. 16 No. 1
DOT sneaks in codification of "BRC" or radioactive "release and recycling"
levels, denying importance…
The US Department of Transportation published on February 1, 2001, its
final rule on international radioactive transport, which exempts quantities
and concentrations of hundreds of radionuclides from DOT regulatory control.
The upshot is that DOT will no longer regulate international shipments
into, out of or through the U.S. (if any leg of the journey is via waterway),
if the shipper claims that the radioactive materials are less concentrated
or in amounts less than those listed in the new rule. The exempt concentrations
are the same as those that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
wants to use to "clear" or "release" radioactive wastes and materials into
general commerce and recycling. Existing uniform international nuclear
transport regulations that require labeling and regulation of radioactive
materials are being changed around the world (with the US leading the way),
to allow deregulated radioactive waste to move through commerce unimpeded
and without public knowledge. The new regulations introduce the concept
of exempt amounts of radioactivity per ‘consignment’ and increase exempt
concentrations for most of the hundreds of radionuclides. In a few months
the US DOT and US NRC plan to adopt the same or similar regulations for
all domestic nuclear materials transportation and for international air
transport. Internationally, the IAEA, through its affiliation with the
United Nations and its transport organizations (International Maritime
Organization and International Civil Aeronautics Organization), is working
to get all UN member nations to adopt the standard (referred to as TS-R-1
or ST-1), which will open the doors between nations for international commerce
in contaminated materials and consumer goods. If the exemption tables in
the IAEA recommendations are adopted internationally, preventing the spread
of contaminated household items and raw materials will be more difficult
than it is now.
DOE still releasing contaminated materials but keeps moratorium on
metals; begins EIS scoping
Although the Department of Energy (DOE) quietly continues to release
and recycle some radioactive materials into general commerce, there has
been a temporary halt, since 2000, on the release of potentially contaminated
radioactive metal. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is reportedly
being developed by DOE’s Environmental Management Office to review some
aspects of the DOE radioactive "release" and "recycling" policy. The scope
of the EIS has not been announced yet. The DOE’s internal orders allow
radioactive materials, including metals, to be released into regular garbage
or recycled into commerce without public knowledge and/or meaningful record-keeping.
Draft proposed changes to those orders would further codify the release
of radioactive materials. DOE has a "Center for Excellence" in radioactive
recycling based in and funded through the DOE at Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
which has been facilitating the recycling into unrestricted commerce of
"slightly contaminated" radioactive materials from throughout the DOE complex.
NRC hires National Academy of Sciences to provide "credibility" for
radioactive materials release
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has hired the National Academy
of Sciences to provide credibility and recommendations on streamlining
the release of radioactive materials from regulatory control. The NRC currently
allows radioactively contaminated materials to be released, reused, recycled,
or otherwise treated as if they were not radioactive through provisions
in licenses and case-by-case evaluations. States, like Tennessee, have
given over a dozen permits to companies to "process" and release radioactive
materials into regular commerce. So, as with DOE sites, commercial nuclear
licensees can do either or both: 1) directly release some contaminated
materials to commerce, recycling or unlicensed landfills; 2) send radioactive
materials to processors to treat and then release into the marketplace.
The NAS contract essentially has the NRC provide and summarize all documents
and meet wice monthly to help NAS staff to put out the report. Since the
public and environmental groups generally boycotted the NRC’s skewed process
to set legal contamination levels, the National Academy of Sciences may
need to hear directly from those parties over the next few months. – Diane
D"Arrigo, February 2001
Contacts: Hon. Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation
US Dept of Transportation, 400 Seventh St. SW, Washington, DC 20590
Hon. Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, US Dept of Energy,
1000 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC, 20585 The.Secretary@hq.doe.gov
Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences,
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington., DC, 20418 BAlberts@nas.edu
the public is invited to submit comments to NAS at the following url
--http://www4.nas.edu/webcr.nsf/ProjectScopeDisplay/BEES-J-00-02-A?OpenDocument
For more information contact Diane D’Arrigo, Nuclear Waste Project Director,
Nuclear Information & Resource Service (202)-328-0002 (x16)
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