Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) today hailed the Department of Energy's decision to temporarily stop releasing radioactively-contaminated metal into everyday commerce as a major step in the right direction, andis calling for three more steps:
1) DOE must PERMANENTLY prohibit the release of radioactive metals and ALL nuclear waste materials.
2) "Congress must prohibit ANY radioactive waste (not just contaminatedmetals) from nuclear bombs and nuclear power from getting out into the marketplace and regular trash," stated Diane D'Arrigo, NIRS radioactive waste project director.
3) "This declaration by the Department of Energy is great as far as itgoes—it applies to some nuclear bomb waste, not all. The burgeoningpractice of 'radioactive recycling' of nuclear power waste mustalso be halted. Unfortunately, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inthe process of legalizing the outrageous and unacceptable use of nuclearwaste to make everyday household items and to allow it to go to regular landfillsand recyclers, as if it were not contaminated," she continued.
Since millions of tons of radioactive metal are currently in the processof being released from nuclear power and bomb production in the US, and even more internationally, it is a victory that the DOE is stopping some of it for now.